Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $443,224.00 in Stock

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total value of $443,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 391,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,534,199.82. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.84. 1,657,339 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,647,211. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.57 and a 200 day moving average of $73.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,290,000 after purchasing an additional 108,407 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,316,640 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,299,004,000 after buying an additional 139,941 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,236,920 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $444,143,000 after buying an additional 17,447 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 195.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $392,345,000 after buying an additional 3,062,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,439,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $273,427,000 after acquiring an additional 53,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.