New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,431 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,396 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Ciena worth $20,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 107.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 3,663.6% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Ciena by 82.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $234.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 275.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at $70,641,134.40. This represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,117 shares of company stock worth $28,068,125. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ciena

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.