Jason Phipps Sells 2,629 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $11.54 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $434.00. 1,310,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,158,356. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $76.89 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $513.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $390.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.67 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Ciena by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $3,244,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 1,095.8% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,438,000 after purchasing an additional 25,225 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.