Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $272.10, but opened at $295.22. Ciena shares last traded at $293.15, with a volume of 614,712 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus set a $550.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $635.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Ciena from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.03 billion, a PE ratio of 67.67, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $346.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $402.93.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. Ciena’s revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total value of $1,016,834.87. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,578.89. This represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Graff sold 4,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total value of $2,151,446.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares in the company, valued at $46,310,583.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,540. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $160,468,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares in the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth approximately $10,883,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Ciena by 983.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,168 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,665,000 after buying an additional 15,583 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth $2,124,000. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 300.1% in the third quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 5,682 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 4,262 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ciena

Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure. The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.