Vestor Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Vestor Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 77.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,102 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 635.7% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 141 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CIEN. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 12.4%

Ciena stock opened at $371.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $461.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $413.77. The company has a market capitalization of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.79 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $84.41 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,675 shares of company stock worth $9,387,576. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena 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.