Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 4.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,648 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $16,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Ciena by 635.7% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Argus set a $650.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,498,203.38. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 22,827 shares of company stock worth $11,541,133 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $461.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,282,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,926,307. The stock has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a PE ratio of 153.71 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $76.89 and a one year high of $637.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $508.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.63. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.