Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Up 8% – Here’s Why

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) traded up 8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $345.45 and last traded at $343.96. 1,322,868 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 3,469,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CIEN. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reissued 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 raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.65.

Ciena Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $48.08 billion, a PE ratio of 216.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Ciena by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.