Key Points
- CEO Gary Smith sold 2,993 shares on Jan. 15 at an average price of $247.65 for roughly $741,216, leaving him with 304,892 shares (a 0.97% reduction) valued at about $75.5 million.
- Other material insider selling occurred the same day—SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares (~$5.3 million)—a level of insider sales that could spook short-term traders despite executives retaining large stakes.
- Ciena recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates with revenue up 20.1% year-over-year, and analysts generally view the stock as a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target near $237.50 while the shares trade close to their 52-week high.
Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.65, for a total value of $741,216.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 304,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,506,503.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Ciena Trading Down 1.0%
CIEN opened at $241.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 283.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $219.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The company's revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 103,199 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $284,313,000 after buying an additional 329,821 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 35.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $220,286,000 after buying an additional 702,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $292,310,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Key Ciena News
Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks put CIEN on its January 19 "Best Growth Stocks" list (Rank #1 / Strong Buy), which can attract momentum and retail/institutional buyers looking for growth exposure. Zacks: Best Growth Stocks
- Positive Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance piece highlights CIEN's revenue growth and network milestones, drawing investor attention to the company's secular demand in optical/network buildouts — a fundamental positive for longer-term revenue and margin outlook. Assessing Ciena Valuation
- Positive Sentiment: Forbes ran a comparative piece (Arista vs. Ciena) noting Ciena has climbed year-to-date, which may encourage additional buying from investors re-evaluating peer valuations and positioning within networking stocks. Arista vs Ciena: Which Is Stronger?
- Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on CIEN but set a $260 price target (~mid-single-digit to high-single-digit upside from current levels). That endorsement curbs downside but is not a clear buy signal. Benzinga coverage
- Neutral Sentiment: An InsiderMonkey hedge-fund roundup mentioned CIEN among many funds/holdings; broad coverage can increase visibility but the piece did not signal a material position shift. Hedge Fund & Insider Trading News
- Negative Sentiment: Material insider selling: SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares (~$5.3M) and CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,993 shares (~$741k) on Jan 15. Large insider sales can spook short-term traders even if executives retain significant holdings. SEC filings: Phipps SEC Filing and CEO SEC Filing
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CIEN. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.50.
View Our Latest Stock Report on CIEN
About Ciena
(
Get Free Report)
Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena's product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.
In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.
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