Key Points
- Insider sale: Ciena director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares on December 15 at an average of $224.66 for about $1.92M, cutting his ownership by 47.6% to 9,422 shares (SEC filing disclosed).
- Quarterly results beat: On December 11 Ciena reported EPS of $0.91 vs. $0.76 expected and revenue of $1.35B vs. $1.29B, with revenue up 20.1% year-over-year.
- Market view: The stock opened at $203.88 (12‑month high $248), carries a high P/E (~240) and a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $237.50 price target, despite the shares trading down ~2.8% on the report.
Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
Ciena Trading Down 2.8%
Shares of CIEN stock opened at $203.88 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $191.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 239.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.17.
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ciena from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.50.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CIEN
Ciena Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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