Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,097 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,179 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $8,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Markowski Investments purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 2,100.0% in the 1st quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Northland Securities set a $550.00 price target on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.93.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $320.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.28. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $168.22 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $368.26 and a 200 day moving average of $437.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,383,643.72. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.52, for a total transaction of $568,612.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,570 shares in the company, valued at $14,186,636.40. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,457,571. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.