Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Ciena has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 20 analysts, including 13 buys, six holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $530.56, with recent targets ranging from $416 to $675.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.64 versus the $1.46 consensus and revenue of $1.57 billion versus $1.50 billion expected. Revenue increased 39.5% year over year.
• The stock opened at $377.33, while institutional investors own nearly 92% of shares. Insiders have sold 18,675 shares worth approximately $9.4 million over the past three months, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $530.5556.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Argus set a $650.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd.

Ciena Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $377.33 on Monday. Ciena has a one year low of $84.41 and a one year high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $457.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.78. The stock has a market cap of $53.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ciena will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,675 shares of company stock worth $9,387,576 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $787,000. Family Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $205,000. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Ciena by 69.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 75,043 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,813,000 after purchasing an additional 30,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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