Rosenblatt Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities has raised its price target for Ciena's stock from $100.00 to $127.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.00% from the last close.
• Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have also increased their target prices, with Bank of America setting a target of $135.00 and JPMorgan at $105.00, reflecting strong investment confidence in Ciena.
• Ciena's earnings report showed a 23.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.13 billion despite missing EPS estimates, indicating growth potential in the communications sector.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $100.00 to $127.50 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' target price indicates a potential upside of 9.00% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.58.

Ciena Trading Up 23.4%

NYSE CIEN opened at $116.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.17. Ciena has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $122.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.16.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%.The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,326,705 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 15.7% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971 shares during the last quarter. Marex Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth approximately $434,000. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 58.1% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 14,610 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 5,369 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its position in Ciena by 301.0% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 250,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $20,332,000 after buying an additional 187,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its position in Ciena by 5.7% during the second quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 57,457 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,673,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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