Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $741,216.45 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,993 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.65, for a total transaction of $741,216.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 304,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,506,503.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ciena Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $1.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $242.31. 1,198,943 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,492,151. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $218.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.02. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northland Capmk downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Ciena by 139.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.