National Pension Service Takes Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

National Pension Service acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 212,421 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $49,679,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE CIEN opened at $580.59 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $500.69 and its 200 day moving average is $342.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $70.77 and a 12 month high of $605.61. The stock has a market cap of $82.09 billion, a PE ratio of 369.80 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% 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 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $17,831,763 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.61.

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.