Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Climb 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shares shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $354.45 and last traded at $344.4280. Approximately 3,019,092 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 2,902,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ciena from $635.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Northland Securities set a $550.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Argus set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.11.

Ciena Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $48.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.88, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $376.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $440.79.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc Graff sold 97 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total transaction of $34,453.43. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,053,635.84. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,383,643.72. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,814 shares of company stock valued at $13,044,675. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Ciena in the second quarter valued at about $404,948,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $160,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 10.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 321,825 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $124,942,000 after purchasing an additional 31,098 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ciena by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $93,719,000 after buying an additional 52,382 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Ciena by 309.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,509,000 after buying an additional 168,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.