Ciena Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CIEN)

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 7,039 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 104% compared to the average daily volume of 3,454 put options.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $201.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.59. Ciena has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $214.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a PE ratio of 207.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.17.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total transaction of $1,309,748.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 254,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,090,510.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,935 shares of company stock worth $8,707,266. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in Ciena in the second quarter worth about $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $70,065,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 2,174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,557 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.53.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.