Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 78,324 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 53.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,234 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 78,324 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $9,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,227,143,000 after buying an additional 103,199 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ciena by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $220,286,000 after acquiring an additional 702,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,655,012 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $134,602,000 after purchasing an additional 182,900 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus lifted their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 157,242 shares of company stock worth $36,341,766 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 6.5%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $288.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $235.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $297.01. The company has a market capitalization of $40.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 339.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena Company 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.