Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Down 4% – Time to Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $186.39 and last traded at $194.3050. 799,036 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 2,473,464 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.20.

View Our Latest Analysis on Ciena

Ciena Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a PE ratio of 199.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $177.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.74.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%.The business had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $59,276.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,884,992.08. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total value of $262,943.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,143,965.34. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 45,135 shares of company stock valued at $7,397,518 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 48,879 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 5.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.2% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 17,463 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Ciena by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 478,550 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,919,000 after acquiring an additional 14,870 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ciena

(Get Free Report)

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.

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