Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Aristotle Capital Boston LLC

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 6.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,779 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,603 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $7,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Ciena by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,317,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $337.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $365.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $284.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.72 billion, a PE ratio of 214.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.08.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly 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 during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.64, for a total transaction of $1,046,897.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 296,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,986,207.04. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,235 shares of company stock valued at $36,941,890. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.