Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Becker Capital Management Inc.

Becker Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 222,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 18,819 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Ciena worth $18,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $100,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 516.6% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,719 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 15,683 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ciena by 7.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Ciena by 322.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 34,035 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,912,000 after buying an additional 25,986 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Up 3.6%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $222.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 228.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $226.24. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $185.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.74.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total transaction of $262,943.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,935 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,266. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Ciena Company Profile

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.