Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading Up 5.2% – Should You Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shot up 5.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $384.33 and last traded at $389.1080. 330,704 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,381,567 shares. The stock had previously closed at $370.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Northland Securities set a $190.00 price objective on Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.65.

Ciena Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 247.82, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,641,134.40. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 147,131 shares of company stock valued at $34,898,686 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter worth about $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.