Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target Raised to $82.00 at Evercore ISI

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $68.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "in-line" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.00% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.69.

Ciena Stock Up 0.6%

CIEN traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.83. The company had a trading volume of 477,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,021,135. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 145.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena has a 1-year low of $44.69 and a 1-year high of $101.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.62 and a 200-day moving average of $75.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $543,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 362,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,926,571.20. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,588 shares of company stock valued at $3,950,907. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,316,640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,299,004,000 after purchasing an additional 139,941 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,236,920 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $444,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,447 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 195.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $392,345,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,883 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,227,020 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $273,684,000 after buying an additional 49,996 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ciena by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,419,947 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $205,301,000 after buying an additional 11,933 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.