Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target Lowered to $75.00 at Citigroup

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $98.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 28.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.62.

Ciena Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CIEN traded down $0.34 on Monday, reaching $58.44. 1,060,655 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,017,925. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.10. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.53, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total value of $579,972.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,732,160.21. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total transaction of $30,068.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,256,582.77. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,484,670 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Ciena by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Ciena by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.