Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on Ciena from $538.43 to $406.81 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, CL King set a $347.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Stock Up 0.0%

CIEN opened at $320.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.51, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.28. Ciena has a 52 week low of $168.22 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $368.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $437.66.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 6.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 57,388 shares in the company, valued at $20,383,643.72. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 97 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $34,453.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,136 shares in the company, valued at $38,053,635.84. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,457,571 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 15.1% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 22,655 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 9,516 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,097 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,830,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,601 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.