Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $65.56, but opened at $69.08. Ciena shares last traded at $67.85, with a volume of 79,497 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CIEN. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

Ciena Trading Up 4.9 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 59,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,042,121.12. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total transaction of $478,046.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 109,878 shares in the company, valued at $9,300,073.92. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,742 shares of company stock worth $5,469,173. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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.