Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIENGet Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $98.00. The stock had previously closed at $84.52, but opened at $87.16. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ciena shares last traded at $88.78, with a volume of 704,051 shares traded.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CIEN

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. This represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $196,840.00. Following 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 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,489 shares of company stock valued at $657,051. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at $5,039,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,988,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,499,035 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $72,223,000 after purchasing an additional 181,358 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,334,290,000 after purchasing an additional 108,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 119.6% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 239,389 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,744,000 after purchasing an additional 130,399 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.91 and its 200 day moving average is $57.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIENGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ciena’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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