Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Ciena shares hit a new 52-week high after Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target to $430 and maintained a buy rating, sending the stock as high as $423.98 intraday.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.35 (versus $1.17 consensus) and revenue of $1.43 billion, a 33.1% year-over-year increase.
• Insiders have sold about 143,283 shares (~$34.4M) over the last 90 days even as institutional ownership sits near 91.99% and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy."

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $430.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ciena traded as high as $423.98 and last traded at $424.6980, with a volume of 586743 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $407.90.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.12.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,283 shares of company stock valued at $34,372,491. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth about $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $426,420,000 after buying an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $16,317,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average is $302.27 and its 200 day moving average is $227.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market cap of $60.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 272.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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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