Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Decreased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,252 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,060 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $70,065,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,221,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1,883.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $64,028,000 after acquiring an additional 747,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $220,286,000 after buying an additional 702,909 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Up 7.1%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $195.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $196.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.64 billion, a PE ratio of 201.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.15.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%.The company had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.50 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total value of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,174 shares of company stock worth $7,231,504. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.