Intech Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 47.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 64,421 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Ciena worth $10,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter worth approximately $253,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 7.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $341.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 401.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $365.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.25.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $213.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This trade represents a 19.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,083 shares of company stock valued at $37,204,740. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.