New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $2,747,810,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 2,174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,625,000 after buying an additional 1,093,557 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $580.59 on Monday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $605.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market cap of $82.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.80 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $500.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.67.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total transaction of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,222 shares of company stock worth $17,831,763. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CIEN. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.61.

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.