Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $73.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.61% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on CIEN. Barclays set a $100.00 price objective on Ciena and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ciena from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Northland Securities set a $85.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.07.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.49. 1,979,645 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,488. The business's 50-day moving average price is $69.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.80. Ciena has a 12-month low of $44.69 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 127.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. The company's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $488,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 368,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,522,472. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This trade represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,788 shares of company stock valued at $3,431,319. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ciena by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

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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