Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading Up 4.3% – Should You Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s share price traded up 4.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $458.00 and last traded at $447.24. 2,489,728 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 2,951,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $428.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CIEN. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price target for the company. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 4.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $424.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.96. The company has a market capitalization of $63.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.08 and a beta of 1.30.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,475 shares of company stock worth $8,164,824. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth 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. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 2,100.0% in the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 635.7% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.