Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Down 6.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Ciena shares fell 6.2% in midday trading, with the stock touching an intraday low of $432.80 after closing at $463.41 the prior day. Trading volume was well below average, suggesting a relatively quiet selloff.
• Despite the drop, recent analyst sentiment remains constructive: Needham raised its price target to $600 and several firms maintain buy or outperform ratings. The consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $530.56.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $1.64 versus estimates of $1.46 and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year. Insider selling has also been notable, with executives selling shares over the past 90 days.

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) were down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $432.80 and last traded at $434.8680. Approximately 890,633 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 3,090,007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $463.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Down 6.2%

The company has a market cap of $61.56 billion, a PE ratio of 145.43 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $366.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% 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. Insiders sold a total of 41,222 shares of company stock worth $18,441,027 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $104,156,000 after acquiring an additional 155,712 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its position 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 valued at $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1,095.8% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $6,438,000 after acquiring an additional 25,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 222.7% in the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 8,003 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently 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.

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