Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Reduced by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,353,358 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 476,907 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 2.36% of Ciena worth $202,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 15.4% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 50.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,910 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,351,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,649 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,819 shares of company stock worth $2,047,280 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $90.89 on Monday. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 126.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Ciena to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.54.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.