Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells 2,952 Shares of Company Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.02, for a total transaction of $1,027,355.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 225,455 shares in the company, valued at $78,462,849.10. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded up $10.90 on Monday, hitting $343.63. The company had a trading volume of 626,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,889,472. The business has a 50 day moving average of $376.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $440.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.34, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $159.56 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $404,948,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Ciena by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 321,825 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $124,942,000 after acquiring an additional 31,098 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ciena by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,719,000 after purchasing an additional 52,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 309.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,509,000 after purchasing an additional 168,736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CIEN. Northland Securities set a $550.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.11.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.