Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading Up 2.8% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Ciena shares rose 2.8% to about $444, with analysts maintaining a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $530.56. Several firms recently raised their targets to between $607 and $675.
• Ciena reported a strong quarter, with adjusted EPS of $1.64 beating estimates by $0.18 and revenue of $1.57 billion exceeding forecasts. Revenue increased 39.5% year over year.
• Insiders sold $10.5 million of stock over the past three months, though the transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 2.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $462.69 and last traded at $444.0370. 2,908,330 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 2,957,158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $427.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.85 billion, a PE ratio of 148.01 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total value of $1,121,199.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 248,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,565,853.42. This trade represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,508,776. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 57.8% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 1.8% in the first quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 9.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 358 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source