Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Citigroup from $141.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.25% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley raised Ciena from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.20.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $9.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $208.62. The stock had a trading volume of 3,520,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,395,820. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $153.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.43 billion, a PE ratio of 215.07, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $214.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total value of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.45, for a total transaction of $1,295,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 268,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,130,111.50. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 52,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,231,504 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 516.6% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,719 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 15,683 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 322.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 34,035 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connective Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $651,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.