Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Falls 10.1% – Should You Sell?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shares dropped 10.1% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $400.20 and last traded at $404.2570. 3,304,212 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 2,895,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $449.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ciena from $508.00 to $394.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $550.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.11.

Ciena Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $379.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $441.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80. The company has a market capitalization of $50.90 billion, a PE ratio of 80.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.28.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total value of $1,016,834.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,946,578.89. The trade was a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total value of $974,691.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,284,802.68. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 31,862 shares of company stock worth $12,017,320 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Markowski Investments acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 2,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation is a networking technology company that provides communications infrastructure, software and services for telecommunications providers, cloud operators, enterprises, governments and research institutions. Its solutions are designed to help organizations build, manage and automate high-capacity networks that support applications such as cloud computing, broadband connectivity, data center interconnection and 5G services.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems and coherent optical technologies, routing and switching platforms, broadband access solutions, network management software and professional services.