Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.13, but opened at $77.25. Ciena shares last traded at $78.99, with a volume of 333,452 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.08.

Ciena Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. Ciena's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $199,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,919 shares of company stock valued at $3,115,199. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 40.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,831 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $81,403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,315 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter valued at $2,398,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,792,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.