Strs Ohio Takes $1.23 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 20,312 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Ciena by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $926,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,636,223.40. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total value of $46,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,665,176. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,769,163. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $136.52 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $139.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 140.74, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upped their price target on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $127.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.75.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.