Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $88.68, but opened at $93.00. Ciena shares last traded at $94.57, with a volume of 599,465 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ciena from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price target on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Ciena Stock Down 1.6 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 169.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total value of $30,068.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,256,582.77. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 13,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $1,137,776.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 425,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,618,161.34. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,781 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,500. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 424.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 925.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 152.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 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.