Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Up 9.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) rose 9.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $427.18 and last traded at $425.2610. Approximately 755,670 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,932,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 14.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.29 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $431.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.62.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% 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 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,776 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC raised its position in Ciena by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 358 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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.