Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Up 10.1% – Time to Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shot up 10.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $195.42 and last traded at $196.3450. 1,392,094 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 2,434,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.20.

Ciena Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a PE ratio of 206.53, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $171.33 and a 200 day moving average of $117.45.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.45, for a total value of $1,424,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 261,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,806,781.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $59,276.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,884,992.08. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 51,935 shares of company stock valued at $8,029,442 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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.