Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Upgraded at Rosenblatt Securities

Key Points

• Ciena was upgraded from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating by Rosenblatt Securities, with a new price target of $175.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.44% from its current price.
• Analysts have generally shown a positive outlook on Ciena, with multiple firms raising their price targets and ratings, including Evercore ISI and Barclays.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Gary B. Smith selling 6,800 shares, reducing his ownership by 2.18%, while institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in the company.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $175.00 price target on the communications equipment provider's stock, up from their previous price target of $127.50. Rosenblatt Securities' target price suggests a potential upside of 27.44% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. B. Riley restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ciena from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.86.

Ciena Stock Down 0.8%

CIEN opened at $137.32 on Friday. Ciena has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $141.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $104.25 and its 200-day moving average is $82.85. The company has a market capitalization of $19.37 billion, a PE ratio of 141.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,725 shares of company stock worth $3,602,291. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Ciena by 66.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Ciena by 9,162.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Ciena by 107.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 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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