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

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.45% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CIEN. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.92.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $65.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.74, a PEG ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.94. 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 50 day moving average price of $55.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.70. Ciena has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $66.78.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

Ciena announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $11,552,877.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $502,953. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,397,560 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1,944.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,062,394 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $101,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,513 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7,767.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $94,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,419 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $48,214,000. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 118.7% during the 1st quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 1,524,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $75,378,000 after acquiring an additional 827,352 shares during the period. 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.