Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock: Insider Marc Graff Sells 97 Shares

Key Points

• CFO Marc Graff sold 97 Ciena shares for approximately $34,453 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, retaining 107,136 shares valued at about $38.1 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 37% year over year to $1.67 billion and EPS of $2.11, exceeding analyst expectations. The stock recently traded at $444.93, near the consensus analyst price target of $490.05.
• Institutional investors own nearly 92% of Ciena’s shares, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, though some have reduced their price targets.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) CFO Marc Graff sold 97 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total transaction of $34,453.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,136 shares in the company, valued at $38,053,635.84. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock traded up $55.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $444.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,381,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,539. The firm has a market cap of $63.09 billion, a PE ratio of 99.31, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $374.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $441.20. 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 fifty-two week low of $147.36 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 30,114.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $671,365,000 after buying an additional 2,861,176 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ciena by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,236,835 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $523,129,000 after buying an additional 1,092,980 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth $404,948,000. Amanah Holdings Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $46,774,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 309.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $86,509,000 after acquiring an additional 168,736 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CIEN shares. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Northland Securities set a $550.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.05.

More Ciena News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm increased after Marvell Technology projected 60%–70% growth for the optical-interconnect market over the next four years. The outlook supports expectations that Ciena could benefit from rising data-center, cloud-computing and AI networking demand. Ciena Gets Boost From Optical Growth Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Ciena’s latest fiscal-quarter results showed revenue rising 37% year over year to $1.67 billion, above expectations, while adjusted earnings also exceeded analyst estimates. The results strengthen the case that demand for optical connectivity is translating into financial growth. Ciena Stock Gains as Fiscal Q3 Revenue Jumps 37 Percent
• Positive Sentiment: Market attention also broadened to AI-networking beneficiaries, with Ciena outperforming larger switching vendors as investors focused on the need for higher-capacity optical links inside data centers. AI Networking Demand Lifts Ciena
• Neutral Sentiment: Bernstein began coverage with a $440 price target, providing new analyst visibility and validating the company’s positioning, although the target offers limited upside relative to the stock’s recent trading level. Bernstein Starts Coverage on Ciena
• Negative Sentiment: Executives disclosed stock sales, including EVP Jason Phipps’s sale of roughly $934,000 and CFO Marc Graff’s sale of about $34,000. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their value as a bearish signal; the executives continue to hold substantial positions. Ciena Executive Stock Sale Filing

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation is a networking technology company that provides communications infrastructure, software and services for telecommunications providers, cloud operators, enterprises, governments and research institutions. Its solutions are designed to help organizations build, manage and automate high-capacity networks that support applications such as cloud computing, broadband connectivity, data center interconnection and 5G services.

The company's portfolio includes optical networking systems and coherent optical technologies, routing and switching platforms, broadband access solutions, network management software and professional services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.