Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Short Interest Update

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,619,035 shares, a growth of 32.4% from the January 29th total of 4,244,185 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,414,906 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 6,414,906 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock traded up $5.36 on Monday, reaching $354.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,525,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,445,028. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $266.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 416.54, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Ciena has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Argus increased their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.80.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,083 shares of company stock valued at $37,204,740 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $253,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ciena by 7.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Ciena by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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.