Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Moved Down to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CIEN. Argus set a $550.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.11.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $331.73 on Friday. Ciena has a 52 week low of $159.56 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $376.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.27.

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

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,383,643.72. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 4,995 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total value of $2,151,446.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,310,583.68. The trade was a 4.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 31,862 shares of company stock worth $12,017,320 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 309.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,509,000 after purchasing an additional 168,736 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 147.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 190,949 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $74,132,000 after purchasing an additional 113,744 shares in the last quarter. E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth $41,676,000. Finally, Ardmore Road Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Ciena in the first quarter valued at $35,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

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.