Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Up 11.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) rose 11.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $494.12 and last traded at $498.9310. Approximately 1,918,530 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 3,390,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $447.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Northland Securities set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.12.

Ciena Stock Up 10.7%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $341.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 315.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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%. Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,105. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,697 shares of company stock worth $27,475,242. Company 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 stock. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 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.