Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Receives Underweight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their underweight rating on shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $70.00 target price on the communications equipment provider's stock, down from their prior target price of $73.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CIEN. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ciena from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.08.

Ciena Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE CIEN traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.52. 2,116,833 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,125,319. The business's 50 day moving average is $77.79 and its 200-day moving average is $76.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. Ciena has a 12-month low of $44.89 and a 12-month high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.19, for a total value of $504,492.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 348,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,853,731.20. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,919 shares of company stock worth $3,115,199 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during 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. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is 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.