Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

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 traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 3,007,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Down 6.1%

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares during the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $154,585,000 after purchasing an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in 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 buying an additional 26,900 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.