Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target Raised to $550.00

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective lifted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $380.00 to $550.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 11.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CIEN. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.59.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN traded up $15.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $491.74. 1,798,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,376,740. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $368.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.51. Ciena has a one year low of $56.94 and a one year high of $513.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $69.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.01.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 41,774 shares of company stock valued at $16,049,357 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Stance Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,348,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,519,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 126.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Spear Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,947,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,028 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.