Vestor Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report) by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,099 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,994 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth $404,948,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ciena by 23.5% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 512,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $180,239,000 after purchasing an additional 97,505 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Ciena by 7.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $160,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Ciena by 4.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 332,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $116,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ciena by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,719,000 after buying an additional 52,382 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.08, for a total value of $412,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,723,837.84. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total transaction of $933,794.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 57,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,383,643.72. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,540. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Ciena Trading Up 1.2%
Shares of Ciena stock opened at $272.59 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $168.22 and a 12-month high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $346.30 and its 200-day moving average is $402.93.
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have commented on CIEN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 25th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Northland Securities set a $550.00 price objective on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $485.93.
View Our Latest Report on CIEN
Ciena Profile
Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure. The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.
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