Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Bank of America from $355.00 to $550.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.41% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $338.59.

Ciena Trading Up 2.0%

Ciena stock opened at $476.57 on Thursday. Ciena has a 52 week low of $56.94 and a 52 week high of $513.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 303.55, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was 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 $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total value of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 41,774 shares of company stock valued at $16,049,357 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.