Insider Selling: Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) SVP Sells $172,200.00 in Stock

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $172,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 207,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,283,645.60. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $61.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.92. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.30 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 925.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently 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.