Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Upgraded to "Overweight" at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $88.00 target price on the communications equipment provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $84.00.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded Ciena from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America raised Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.77.

Ciena Stock Up 5.4 %

NYSE CIEN traded up $4.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $80.41. 3,183,998 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,707,799. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. The company has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average is $80.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.38. Ciena has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Ciena had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 4.72%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,781 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,500 over the last ninety days. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

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