Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading 6.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

Ciena Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $214.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.69 billion, a PE ratio of 289.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.84, for a total transaction of $121,462.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,992 shares in the company, valued at $8,831,833.28. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,117 shares of company stock worth $28,068,125. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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.