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

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price fell 7.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $488.07 and last traded at $469.9640. 379,960 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,282,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CIEN. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen began coverage on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.59.

Ciena Stock Up 3.4%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $395.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.51. The company has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 328.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% 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 a total of 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 30,114.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $102,705,000. 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.