Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Short Interest Update

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,244,185 shares, a drop of 28.7% from the January 15th total of 5,952,010 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,260,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,260,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 157,242 shares of company stock valued at $36,341,766 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in Ciena by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 212,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $49,731,000 after purchasing an additional 50,936 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Ciena by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock traded up $10.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,087,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,183,345. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $243.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $308.81. The company has a market capitalization of $42.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 191.14, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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.