Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Given New $135.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has raised Ciena's price target from $95.00 to $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.41% from the current stock price.
• Ciena's stock has experienced significant growth, trading up 23.4%, with a current price of around $116.97.
• The company reported a 23.6% year-over-year increase in revenue, reaching $1.13 billion, although it missed EPS estimates by $0.08.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Bank of America from $95.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Bank of America's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.41% from the stock's current price.

CIEN has been the topic of several other research reports. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.58.

Ciena Trading Up 23.4%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $116.97 on Friday. Ciena has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $122.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. The company has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.46, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.16. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.17.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,853,244.72. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Ciena by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.

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