New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. Ellevest Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $1,279,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $359,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 5,245.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 44,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,501,000 after buying an additional 44,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $372,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.61.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total transaction of $684,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares in the company, valued at $153,163,683.45. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $17,831,763. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $580.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market cap of $82.09 billion, a PE ratio of 369.80 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $500.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.67. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $70.77 and a 1-year high of $605.61.

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