Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target Raised to $185.00 at Morgan Stanley

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 5.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.20.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $195.81. 476,461 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,477,592. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $214.17. The company has a market cap of $27.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $178.79 and its 200 day moving average is $122.24.

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

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total value of $262,943.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total value of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 45,135 shares of company stock worth $7,397,518 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.