Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s share 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 traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Trading Up 11.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 3.17. The company has a market capitalization of $43.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $402.93.

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

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. 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 transaction of $2,151,446.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,310,583.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total transaction of $974,691.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,284,802.68. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $404,948,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 512,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $180,239,000 after buying an additional 97,505 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 332,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $116,900,000 after buying an additional 12,986 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,719,000 after buying an additional 52,382 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Company Profile

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.