Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by North Growth Management Ltd.

North Growth Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 407,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 22,000 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises about 6.3% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $33,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $70,065,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth about $49,221,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1,883.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $64,028,000 after purchasing an additional 747,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $220,286,000 after purchasing an additional 702,909 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Up 2.9%

CIEN stock opened at $201.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a PE ratio of 207.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $214.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.14 and a 200-day moving average of $124.20. 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 (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Ciena from $120.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $130.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $59,276.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares in the company, valued at $6,884,992.08. The trade was a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total value of $262,943.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,531 shares in the company, valued at $6,143,965.34. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 51,935 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,266 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena 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.