Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $884,153.52 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.51, for a total value of $884,153.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,549,895.88. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $334.77 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $253.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.95. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $340.27. The company has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a PE ratio of 393.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings 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. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Zacks Research lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.67.

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.