Insider Selling: Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells 6,800 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Ciena Corporation's CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company stock, reducing his ownership by 2.13% and retaining approximately 311,957 shares valued at about $28.24 million.
• Despite a quarterly earnings miss at $0.42 EPS, Ciena reported revenue of $1.13 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 23.6%.
• Research analysts have mixed reviews on Ciena's stock, with ratings ranging from "underweight" to "strong buy," while the consensus target price is currently set at $85.54.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.54, for a total value of $615,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 311,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,244,586.78. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ciena Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of CIEN traded up $1.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $92.05. 1,077,012 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,289. The company has a current ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.59. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.85, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The business's revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Ciena by 66.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.