Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Bought by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 637.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,907 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,207 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 0.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,593 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $77,800,000 after acquiring an additional 3,788 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 877.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 478,756 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,937,000 after purchasing an additional 429,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Ciena by 0.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 296,744 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Ciena by 21.5% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at $28,358,240.01. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total value of $262,943.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,935 shares of company stock valued at $8,029,442. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $178.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 183.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $214.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.45.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Argus lifted their price objective on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.50 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ciena from $120.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ciena from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.20.

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.