Systematic Financial Management LP Trims Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Systematic Financial Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 57.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,018 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,651 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 635.7% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Down 4.3%

CIEN stock opened at $389.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $84.41 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.28. The stock has a market cap of $55.20 billion, a PE ratio of 129.98 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ciena from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

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.