Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith Sells 2,952 Shares

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.92, for a total transaction of $1,670,595.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 269,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,547,697.44. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Up 8.9%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded up $50.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $618.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,886,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,888,535. The business’s 50 day moving average is $503.80 and its 200-day moving average is $345.22. The company has a market cap of $87.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 371.97 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $70.77 and a 52 week high of $605.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2,100.0% in the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.39.

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.