Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $286.00 to $405.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 20.04% from the stock’s previous close.

CIEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.59.

Ciena Trading Down 0.2%

CIEN stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $506.51. 314,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,320,613. The company has a 50-day moving average of $378.22 and a 200-day moving average of $269.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. Ciena has a 1 year low of $56.94 and a 1 year high of $517.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.62 billion, a PE ratio of 322.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts predict that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 293,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $16,615,505 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Ciena by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.