Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $1,587,528.00 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.46, for a total transaction of $1,587,528.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 391,437 shares in the company, valued at $91,384,882.02. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ciena Stock Down 2.1%

Ciena stock opened at $233.37 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $248.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 274.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

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.