Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 7,785 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,785 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $21,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP bought a new position in Ciena in the second quarter valued at about $102,705,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 7.4%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $459.82 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.55 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $519.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $375.02. The stock has a market cap of $65.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.28 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CIEN. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at $121,843,817.10. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,374 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,470. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Profile

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.