Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Trading Down 4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) were down 4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $430.00 and last traded at $429.1860. Approximately 122,672 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 3,063,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $446.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Down 7.0%

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $498.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $403.96. The firm has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.72 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. This 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $787,000. Family Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Tema ETFs LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Ciena by 69.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 75,043 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,813,000 after acquiring an additional 30,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

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.