Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 13,628 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,264 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,628 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $10,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $102,705,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Ciena by 3,577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,323 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 375.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $100,499,000 after buying an additional 975,792 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 546.9% in the second quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after buying an additional 843,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth $49,221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

Ciena Stock Up 1.4%

Ciena stock opened at $239.99 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $197.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 282.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $248.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 1,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.42, for a total value of $284,545.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 80,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,508,594.48. This represents a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total value of $1,309,748.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 254,870 shares in the company, valued at $49,090,510.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,877,100 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.