Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 32.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,275 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,395 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Ciena were worth $10,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter worth approximately $234,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $461.12 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $398.77. The company has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a PE ratio of 153.71 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $76.89 and a 52 week high of $637.51. 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 (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm’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 $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’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 owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,827 shares of company stock worth $11,541,133. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CIEN. Argus set a $650.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

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.