Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Down 7.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) traded down 7.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $368.00 and last traded at $363.1650. Approximately 331,622 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,007,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $470.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $412.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.68 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $671,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Atreides Management LP acquired a new position in Ciena during the second quarter valued at $102,705,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Ciena by 2,174.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $166,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,557 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.