Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $530.56 target price.
• Ciena’s shares rose 5.2% to open at $411.04, while the stock continues to trade within a wide 12-month range of $84.41 to $637.51.
• The company reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.64 versus the $1.46 estimate and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year; insiders have sold $10.5 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price objective on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 5.2%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $411.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $449.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena has a 12 month low of $84.41 and a 12 month high of $637.51.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,776. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,193,300,000 after buying an additional 750,128 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $671,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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