Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 43.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,760 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,603 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 1.8% in the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Ciena by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total transaction of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at $21,297,072.39. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 40,500 shares of company stock valued at $18,381,089 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $477.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.63 billion, a PE ratio of 159.25 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $76.89 and a one year high of $637.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $518.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $384.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena Company Profile

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.