JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target to $380.00

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $250.00 to $380.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.43% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.80.

Ciena Stock Down 6.1%

Ciena stock opened at $332.07 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a PE ratio of 390.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $270.50 and a 200-day moving average of $202.00. Ciena has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $365.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold 153,283 shares of company stock worth $35,894,992. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,227,143,000 after buying an additional 103,199 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Ciena by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.