Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading Down 8.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) shares dropped 8.3% during trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $76.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Ciena traded as low as $61.16 and last traded at $60.87. Approximately 1,445,920 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 1,906,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.40.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Securities upped their price target on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.38.

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Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $1,436,843.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 59,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,042,121.12. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $31,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,942 shares of company stock worth $5,025,949. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Ciena by 925.0% in 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena by 328.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Up 2.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.48. The company has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.27, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. Ciena's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.