Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,319 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,885 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Ciena by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.7% during the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $297.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.27. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $308.81.

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

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total transaction of $784,051.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,195,264. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at $11,370,344.50. This trade represents a 19.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 157,242 shares of company stock worth $36,341,766 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% 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.