Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Increased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 27.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,220 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,480 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Ciena were worth $10,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter worth $467,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $3,160,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 217.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 5,737 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. M & L Capital Management Ltd now owns 100,580 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,386,000 after buying an additional 37,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, Director Thomas Nevens sold 3,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.04, for a total value of $1,342,091.52. Following the sale, the director owned 6,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,258,002.56. This trade represents a 37.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total transaction of $974,691.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,284,802.68. This trade represents a 1.21% 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 three months, insiders sold 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,457,571. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on shares of Ciena from $538.43 to $406.81 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.93.

Ciena Trading Down 8.4%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $320.16 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $168.22 and a 12 month high of $637.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $363.32 and its 200 day moving average is $401.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.28.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) 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. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.