Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

CIEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Northland Securities set a $85.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $44.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.15.

Ciena Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $72.88 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.84. Ciena has a 12 month low of $44.69 and a 12 month high of $101.44. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total transaction of $443,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 391,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,534,199.82. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $172,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,283,645.60. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,788 shares of company stock worth $3,431,319. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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