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

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $499.39 and last traded at $493.5620, with a volume of 4104971 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $447.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.12.

Ciena Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $346.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.54. The stock has a market cap of $69.79 billion, a PE ratio of 314.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at $116,909,971.15. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,697 shares of company stock worth $27,475,242. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,193,300,000 after purchasing an additional 750,128 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after purchasing an additional 329,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.