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

Key Points

• CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 Ciena shares for approximately $1.12 million at an average price of $379.81 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his ownership by 1.17%.
• Ciena shares rose 5.2% to $411.04, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.64 and revenue of $1.57 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue increased 39.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $530.56; institutional investors own 91.99% of the stock.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $1,121,199.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 248,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $94,565,853.42. This represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded up $20.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $411.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,068,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,992,746. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $58.18 billion, a PE ratio of 137.01 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. The business's 50 day moving average price is $453.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $787,000. Family Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 75,043 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,813,000 after buying an additional 30,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

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.

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