Morgan Stanley Raises Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target to $63.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America reissued a neutral rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Northland Securities reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Ciena from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $62.92.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Ciena

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $68.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 72.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena has a twelve month low of $39.94 and a twelve month high of $69.91.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 205,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,552,877.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at $5,604,752.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock worth $502,953. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its position in Ciena by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 26,281 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 4.6% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,404 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 424.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Ciena by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 11,792 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles