Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Sells 1,289 Shares of Stock

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. This trade represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ciena Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $66.50 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 70.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $42.20 and a 1 year high of $73.47.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 4.6% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,404 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Ciena by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,307 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Ciena by 424.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.