Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $784,051.20 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total transaction of $784,051.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,195,264. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ciena Stock Down 8.2%

Ciena stock traded down $22.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $253.75. 5,311,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,603,711. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $285.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $230.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $35.74 billion, a PE ratio of 298.53, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at $3,416,000. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,549 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,028 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,379,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Ciena by 344.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 29,457 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,889,000 after purchasing an additional 22,822 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

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.