Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $285.97 and last traded at $253.75, with a volume of 5485292 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $276.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

Ciena Trading Down 8.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $35.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $231.79 and its 200-day moving average is $171.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at $70,641,134.40. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter worth $1,993,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $253,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares during the period. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $714,000. 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.