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

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $65.56, but opened at $69.08. Ciena shares last traded at $67.85, with a volume of 79,497 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total transaction of $443,224.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 391,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,534,199.82. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $1,436,843.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 59,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,042,121.12. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,742 shares of company stock worth $5,469,173. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,327 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 152.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 955,516 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $58,850,000 after buying an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 70.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,929 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,952,000 after buying an additional 19,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth about $35,403,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Company Profile

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.