Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $320.00 to $430.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.58% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.12.

Ciena Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $19.55 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $403.44. 1,548,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,469,379. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.46. The company has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 255.43, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.07. 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 has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $419.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares in the company, valued at $105,372,490.52. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,283 shares of company stock valued at $34,372,491. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 valued at $947,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.