Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 20,863 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,005 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,863 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.94.

Ciena Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $580.90 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $605.61. The stock has a market cap of $82.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 370.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $492.80 and a 200 day moving average of $337.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena 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.