Yahoo Finance Need To Know: Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Insiders Have Been Selling Shares
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
View our latest analysis for Ciena
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ciena
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when Senior Vice President of Global Software & Services Rick Hamilton sold US$149k worth of shares at a price of US$32.48 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$36.56). Even though it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, that’s certainly not a positive sign, in our book. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 44.4% of Rick Hamilton’s holding.
Over the last year, we note insiders sold 6.60k shares worth US$201k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Ciena shares, than buying. They sold for an average price of about US$30.46. It’s not ideal to see that insiders have sold at around the current price. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insiders at Ciena Have Sold Stock Recently
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Ciena shares. Specifically, Rick Hamilton ditched US$149k worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it’s not the be all and end all.
Insider Ownership
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 1.3% of Ciena shares, worth about US$73m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Ciena Tell Us?
An insider sold Ciena shares recently, but they didn’t buy any. And there weren’t any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. Insider ownership isn’t particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We’re in no rush to buy! If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.
Of course Ciena may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
