Insider Selling: Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Sells 11,929 Shares of Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $12.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $246.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,649,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,889,103. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.31. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $34.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 289.74, a PEG ratio of 1.28 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.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at $337,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 222.7% in the 4th quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 8,003 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,169,000. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd raised its position in Ciena by 639.8% during the fourth quarter. M & L Capital Management Ltd now owns 36,250 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,478,000 after acquiring an additional 31,350 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

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.