Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $1,121,199.12 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $1,121,199.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 248,982 shares in the company, valued at $94,565,853.42. This trade represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock traded up $20.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $411.04. 2,068,555 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,992,746. The company has a market capitalization of $58.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $453.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.80. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $84.41 and a twelve month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.8% in the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 1.8% during the first quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 358 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

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.