Brokerages Set Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target at $355.59

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $355.5882.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $506.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 322.62, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $403.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.23. Ciena has a twelve month low of $64.71 and a twelve month high of $527.86.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.