Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Cut to "Neutral" at B. Riley

Key Points

• Ciena's rating was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" by B. Riley, reflecting a more cautious sentiment among analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, several firms, including Bank of America and Barclays, have increased their price targets for Ciena, indicating mixed sentiments among analysts regarding the stock's potential.
• The company reported earnings of $0.42 per share, missing estimates by $0.08, but its revenue grew by 23.6% year-over-year, showcasing strong growth despite the earnings miss.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at B. Riley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $113.00 target price on the communications equipment provider's stock. B. Riley's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 3.06% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CIEN. Barclays boosted their target price on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.32.

Ciena Stock Down 0.3%

CIEN stock opened at $116.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.44 billion, a PE ratio of 120.18, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $89.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.23. Ciena has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $122.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 305,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,358,240.01. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 15.7% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth about $434,000. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 58.1% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 14,610 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,369 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP raised its holdings in Ciena by 301.0% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 250,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $20,332,000 after purchasing an additional 187,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in Ciena by 5.7% during the second quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 57,457 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.