Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Down 5.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Ciena shares fell 5.4% to about $362 after B. Riley Financial cut its price target from $516 to $413 while maintaining a neutral rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 14 analysts rate Ciena a Buy and six rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $521.22.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.64 versus $1.46 expected and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $516.00 to $413.00. B. Riley Financial currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ciena traded as low as $359.28 and last traded at $362.0780. Approximately 355,904 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,854,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $382.80.

CIEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $720.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.22.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,499.76. The trade was a 3.57% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,470 shares of company stock valued at $9,967,521. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 49,854.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 104,748,296 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $51,385,324,000 after buying an additional 104,538,607 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP bought a new position in Ciena in the second quarter worth approximately $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.58 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $414.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $437.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.Ciena's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

About Ciena

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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