Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CIEN. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ciena to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Argus increased their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.32.

Ciena Stock Up 6.3%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $129.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $131.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.14. The stock has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,326,705 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Ciena by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by 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.