Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,390 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 82,041 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $26,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock valued at $36,941,890. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Down 0.8%

CIEN stock opened at $337.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $282.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.84, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.08. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.65.

About Ciena

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.