BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 34,362 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,947,856 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 34,362 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises 0.6% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 3.44% of Ciena worth $238,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 1,171.4% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,854 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after buying an additional 41,326 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $661,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 949,476 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $42,736,000 after acquiring an additional 18,860 shares during the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in Ciena by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 225,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,135,000 after acquiring an additional 90,610 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $73,476,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total transaction of $170,835.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 212,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,368,269.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total transaction of $170,835.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 212,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,368,269.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $130,962.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 96,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,635,840. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,378 shares of company stock worth $501,724. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.62. 2,967,754 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,334. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 55.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.40 and a 200 day moving average of $50.02. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $39.94 and a 1-year high of $63.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $910.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.80 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 7.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CIEN. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ciena from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Raymond James downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Ciena from $52.50 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Ciena from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Ciena from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.25.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.