Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,390 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 82,041 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Ciena worth $26,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ciena by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 103,199 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ciena by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Ciena by 10.4% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 329,821 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 12.4% in the second quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,655,012 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $134,602,000 after buying an additional 182,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at about $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Ciena in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $355.00 in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned 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 $320.65.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock valued at $36,941,890. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $337.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $47.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.84, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.08. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $282.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.88.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Research analysts predict 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.