Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $1,349,123.04 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.55 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.59 billion, a PE ratio of 142.67 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $519.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $372.01.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,883,000. Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $9,293,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,338 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Ciena by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Ciena by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,356,000 after purchasing an additional 6,132 shares during the last quarter. 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.