David M. Rothenstein Sells 3,500 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total value of $311,815.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 192,997 shares in the company, valued at $17,194,102.73. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $86.54. 985,623 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,856,174. The stock has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.63, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.92 and a 200-day moving average of $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $42.76 and a 52 week high of $91.82.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Ciena from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,441 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,725 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the second quarter worth $355,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth $227,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ciena during the second quarter valued at $146,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 169,852 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.