Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $241.6667.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Argus boosted their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,242 shares of company stock valued at $36,341,766. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $271.88 on Monday. Ciena has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $285.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $38.30 billion, a PE ratio of 319.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.54.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.