California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,095 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,689 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,095 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Ciena worth $81,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $104,156,000 after buying an additional 155,712 shares during the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $160,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $330.32 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $465.91 and its 200 day moving average is $412.78. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $84.41 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 110.11 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last quarter. 0.58% 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.