Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Up 6.3% – What’s Next?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price shot up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $248.90 and last traded at $248.99. 691,211 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,760,793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $234.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

Ciena Trading Up 5.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.11 and a 200-day moving average of $152.31. The company has a market cap of $34.69 billion, a PE ratio of 289.74, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results 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. 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 127,117 shares of company stock valued at $28,068,125 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.