Range Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,452 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of CIEN opened at $461.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.27 billion, a PE ratio of 153.71 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $508.61 and its 200 day moving average is $397.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $76.89 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ciena and Telefónica Deutschland said they are using AI agents to speed up 5G network slicing, highlighting Ciena’s role in helping carriers automate and monetize advanced network services. Ciena and Telefónica Deutschland Use AI Agents to Speed Up 5G Network Slicing
• Positive Sentiment: Ciena unveiled a 1.6 Tb/s coherent pluggable solution aimed at hyperscale cloud providers, a sign the company is expanding its data-center and high-bandwidth connectivity portfolio. Ciena Unveils 1.6 Tb/s Coherent Pluggable Solution for Hyperscale Cloud Providers’ Capacity Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Blue Planet introduced Configuration and Change Management, which supports Ciena’s software-led automation strategy and could strengthen its enterprise and service-provider offerings. Ciena Corporation (CIEN)’s Blue Planet Division Introduced Blue Planet Configuration and Change Management
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks roundup highlighted CIEN as one of several liquid, efficient stocks with growth potential, reinforcing a generally constructive view but without new company-specific catalysts. Bet on 4 Top-Performing Liquid Stocks to Maximize Portfolio Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on how Ciena is scaling its data-center connectivity portfolio adds visibility to its growth strategy, though it does not appear to be a direct earnings or guidance update. How is Ciena Scaling Its Data Center Connectivity Portfolio?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sale headlines from Jason Phipps and CEO Gary Smith may create some caution, although the reported share sales were relatively small and are not necessarily a bearish signal on fundamentals. Jason Phipps Sells 2,629 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Gary Smith Sells 2,952 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $450.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,827 shares of company stock worth $11,541,133. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.