Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Director Bruce L. Claflin Sells 16,912 Shares

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $1,436,843.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 59,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,042,121.12. The trade was a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ciena Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CIEN traded up $0.29 on Wednesday, hitting $82.22. 1,498,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,456. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 87.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.89. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $91.82. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Ciena by 424.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ciena by 152.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 241.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,424 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by 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.