Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Up 2.8% – Should You Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price was up 2.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $462.69 and last traded at $444.0370. Approximately 2,908,330 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 2,957,158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 2.8%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $427.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $62.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,776. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 30,114.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares in the last quarter. 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.