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

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $543,252.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 362,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,926,571.20. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock opened at $81.01 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.82. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.13, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. 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 fifty-two week low of $44.69 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.62.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $245,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $421,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,831 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,403,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,129,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.