Inspire Investing LLC Lowers Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,830 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,725 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ciena by 107.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Ciena by 82.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of Ciena by 21.5% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on 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 objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

Ciena Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $240.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 282.42, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.57. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $248.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total transaction of $1,309,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,870 shares in the company, valued at $49,090,510.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,549 shares of company stock valued at $8,614,156. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.