Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Down 8.3% – Time to Sell?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price dropped 8.3% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $294.46 and last traded at $294.26. Approximately 1,545,979 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 2,889,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Trading Down 9.5%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $359.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $402.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.33.

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. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.52, for a total value of $568,612.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,186,636.40. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $880,168.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 222,503 shares in the company, valued at $66,341,494.48. This trade represents a 1.31% 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. Insiders sold 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Ciena by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,883,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 983.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,168 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 15,583 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the second quarter valued at about $2,124,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,911,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.