JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target to $380.00

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective lifted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $250.00 to $380.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.92% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $213.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.80.

Ciena Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE CIEN traded up $6.72 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $355.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,935,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,428,094. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.45. The stock has a market cap of $50.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 418.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Ciena has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total value of $19,170,170.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 160,083 shares of company stock valued at $37,204,740. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Ciena by 139.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after buying an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.