Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Jason Phipps Sells 21,383 Shares

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ciena Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $241.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $219.36 and a 200 day moving average of $159.14. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $261.13.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upped their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Northland Capmk cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.50.

Key Stories Impacting Ciena

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks put CIEN on its January 19 “Best Growth Stocks” list (Rank #1 / Strong Buy), which can attract momentum and retail/institutional buyers looking for growth exposure. Zacks: Best Growth Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance piece highlights CIEN’s revenue growth and network milestones, drawing investor attention to the company’s secular demand in optical/network buildouts — a fundamental positive for longer-term revenue and margin outlook. Assessing Ciena Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Forbes ran a comparative piece (Arista vs. Ciena) noting Ciena has climbed year-to-date, which may encourage additional buying from investors re-evaluating peer valuations and positioning within networking stocks. Arista vs Ciena: Which Is Stronger?
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on CIEN but set a $260 price target (~mid-single-digit to high-single-digit upside from current levels). That endorsement curbs downside but is not a clear buy signal. Benzinga coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: An InsiderMonkey hedge-fund roundup mentioned CIEN among many funds/holdings; broad coverage can increase visibility but the piece did not signal a material position shift. Hedge Fund & Insider Trading News
• Negative Sentiment: Material insider selling: SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares (~$5.3M) and CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,993 shares (~$741k) on Jan 15. Large insider sales can spook short-term traders even if executives retain significant holdings. SEC filings: Phipps SEC Filing and CEO SEC Filing

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.