Marc Graff Sells 126 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CFO Marc Graff sold 126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.36, for a total transaction of $56,619.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 127,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,105,118.16. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN traded down $3.33 on Friday, hitting $481.36. 8,731,138 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,187,663. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $76.89 and a 52 week high of $637.51. 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 $68.14 billion, a PE ratio of 160.45 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $518.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $380.77.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ciena in the first quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 139.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by 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.