Insider Selling: Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells 6,800 Shares of Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.46, for a total transaction of $1,587,528.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,384,882.02. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ciena Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Ciena stock traded down $4.83 on Monday, hitting $236.85. 625,706 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,523,202. The company has a fifty day moving average of $201.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.69. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $248.00. The company has a market capitalization of $33.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 94.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,395 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Ciena by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 977 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Ciena by 80.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,635 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $458,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CIEN. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

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.