Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Ciena Stock Up 3.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 172.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.06 and a 200-day moving average of $65.58. 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) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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%. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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 has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. This represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total transaction of $30,068.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,781 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,500. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $246,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ciena

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.