Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Climb 3.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ciena shares rose 3.5% to approximately $344.43 in Monday trading, with volume slightly above its daily average.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $506.11; recent upgrades included Evercore and Zacks Research.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $2.11 versus $1.73 expected and revenue of $1.67 billion, up 37% year over year.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.5% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $354.45 and last traded at $344.4280. 3,019,092 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 2,902,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. CL King set a $347.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Evercore upgraded Ciena from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their price target on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $506.11.

Ciena Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $376.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80. The stock has a market cap of $48.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.28.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total transaction of $974,691.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares in the company, valued at $79,284,802.68. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc Graff sold 4,995 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total value of $2,151,446.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,310,583.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,814 shares of company stock valued at $13,044,675. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,244,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 7.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $160,468,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the period. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,883,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 983.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,168 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 15,583 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 126.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,413 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation NYSE: CIEN is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company's portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.

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