Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target on Ciena to $550 (from $355) and kept a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 15% upside from the stock's prior close.
• Ciena recently beat estimates with Q1 EPS $1.35 vs. $1.17 and revenue of $1.43 billion (up 33.1% YoY), yet the stock carries a high P/E (~303.6) and a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $338.59 target.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — about $16.0M of shares sold in the past three months (insiders own 0.58%) while institutional investors hold ~91.99% of the stock.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $355.00 to $550.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Bank of America's price target suggests a potential upside of 15.41% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CIEN. Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $338.59.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $476.57 on Thursday. Ciena has a 12-month low of $56.94 and a 12-month high of $513.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $368.69 and a 200-day moving average of $263.51.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,774 shares of company stock worth $16,049,357. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 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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