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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $410.54. The company has a market capitalization of $51.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $104,156,000 after buying an additional 155,712 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $154,585,000 after buying an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.