Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith Sells 83,552 Shares of Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 83,552 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total value of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $23.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $254.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,452,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,884,474. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $208.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.59. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $254.82.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.50.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors 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.