Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price target boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $286.00 to $405.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 20.04% from the stock’s previous close.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.59.

Ciena Stock Down 0.2%

CIEN stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Monday, reaching $506.51. The stock had a trading volume of 314,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,320,613. 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 company has a market capitalization of $71.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 322.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01. Ciena has a one year low of $56.94 and a one year high of $517.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $378.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.31.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ciena by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Ciena by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ciena

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.