Insider Selling: Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells 2,952 Shares of Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.78, for a total transaction of $1,321,846.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 246,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,167,313.40. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN traded down $40.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $405.03. The company had a trading volume of 3,046,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,951,961. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $84.41 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $424.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.37. The company has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a PE ratio of 135.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $525.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after buying an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Ciena by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is 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.