Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Down 8% – Should You Sell?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s share price was down 8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $469.14 and last traded at $465.9020. Approximately 812,014 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 3,226,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.59.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 300.50, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $403.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $284.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 1.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the second quarter worth about $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.