Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target to $152.00

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus has raised its price target for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) from $120.00 to $152.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.13% from the previous close.
• Multiple research firms have adjusted their price targets for Ciena, with Bank of America increasing theirs from $135.00 to $155.00, while Morgan Stanley set theirs at $100.00 with an "underweight" rating.
• Currently, the average rating for Ciena is a "Moderate Buy", with 3 analysts rating it as a Strong Buy and 8 as a Buy, suggesting positive market sentiment.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $120.00 to $152.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target points to a potential upside of 9.13% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CIEN. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.46.

Ciena Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.28. The company had a trading volume of 535,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,363,358. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.55. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.33, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $140.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total value of $46,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,665,176. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,769,163. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 103,199 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ciena by 7.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $426,420,000 after buying an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $284,313,000 after buying an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 35.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $220,286,000 after buying an additional 702,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 12.4% during the second quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,655,012 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $134,602,000 after buying an additional 182,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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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