Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Up 10.1% – Time to Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price traded up 10.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $195.42 and last traded at $196.3450. 1,392,094 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 2,434,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.50 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.20.

Ciena Stock Up 9.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 201.48, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%.The company had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $59,276.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,884,992.08. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 54,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 51,935 shares of company stock valued at $8,029,442 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.