Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stock Position Cut by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 327,337 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 30,103 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $115,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 309.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,509,000 after buying an additional 168,736 shares during the period. E20 Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth $41,676,000. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth $35,329,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth $33,013,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 4,995 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $2,151,446.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,310,583.68. The trade was a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total value of $1,016,834.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,946,578.89. The trade was a 25.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 33,062 shares of company stock worth $12,336,372 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Down 11.4%

CIEN opened at $284.09 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $361.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $402.14. The company has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 63.41, a PEG ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 1.28. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $168.22 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CIEN. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Northland Securities set a $550.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Ciena from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, September 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.93.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.