Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIENGet Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $529.89 and last traded at $528.5170, with a volume of 1983771 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $475.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.59.

View Our Latest Report on Ciena

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $74.73 billion, a PE ratio of 336.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $410.22 and its 200 day moving average is $287.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIENGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total transaction of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,297,072.39. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their position. 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 sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in 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. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% during 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. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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