Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target Raised to $280.00

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus to $280.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Ciena Trading Down 0.4%

Ciena stock opened at $229.13 on Thursday. Ciena has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 269.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.27 and a 200 day moving average of $161.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,890 shares of company stock worth $38,277,035. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 103.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 406 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $386,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 1,279.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 290,727 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $67,992,000 after buying an additional 269,644 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.