Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on CIEN. BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 price objective on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock 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 given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Ciena Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $297.41 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $239.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.27. The company has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a PE ratio of 349.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $308.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total transaction of $784,051.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at $80,195,264. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 157,242 shares of company stock worth $36,341,766 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Ciena by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Ciena by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.