Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock: Insider Gary Smith Sells 2,952 Shares

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $880,168.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 222,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,341,494.48. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $229.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $353.77 and its 200-day moving average is $402.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 3.17. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $168.22 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 309.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,509,000 after acquiring an additional 168,736 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 440.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,887 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $62,894,000 after buying an additional 135,218 shares during the period. E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,676,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Ciena by 23.5% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 512,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $180,239,000 after purchasing an additional 97,505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings cut Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.