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

Key Points

• Ciena Corporation reached a new 52-week high of $146.41 following an upgrade from Rosenblatt Securities, which increased its price target from $127.50 to $175.00.
• The company received multiple upgrades from various analysts, with Zacks Research raising its rating to "strong-buy" and other firms also increasing their price targets significantly.
• Recent insider transactions saw Director Bruce L. Claflin sell 8,461 shares, reflecting a 13.41% decrease in his position, while institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Ciena.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Rosenblatt Securities upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Rosenblatt Securities now has a $175.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $127.50. Ciena traded as high as $146.41 and last traded at $145.30, with a volume of 149642 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $141.93.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Argus upped their price target on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.86.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,653,914.88. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total value of $46,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,918 shares in the company, valued at $5,665,176. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,186 shares of company stock worth $4,787,846 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $102,705,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $70,065,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 3,577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,323 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $100,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 546.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $81,106,000 after acquiring an additional 843,235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Up 2.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.65. The stock has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 150.04, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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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