Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary B. Smith Sells 6,800 Shares

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total transaction of $443,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 391,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,534,199.82. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ciena Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Ciena stock traded up $1.51 on Wednesday, hitting $65.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,657,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,647,211. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $101.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.52, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ciena by 925.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ciena by 328.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

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.