Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $309.59 and last traded at $309.6710, with a volume of 113381 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $302.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

Ciena Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $44.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 366.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.79.

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

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 157,131 shares of company stock valued at $36,320,587. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.