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 Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total value of $1,436,843.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 59,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,042,121.12. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $82.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,498,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,921,456. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 87.47, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.89. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $91.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Ciena by 2.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,307 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ciena by 925.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Ciena by 424.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently 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.