William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 267,652 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,440,888 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 267,652 shares during the period. Ciena accounts for 0.9% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.73% of Ciena worth $355,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $39,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Up 2.2%

CIEN opened at $348.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 410.04, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $365.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.51, for a total value of $884,153.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,549,895.88. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,083 shares of company stock worth $37,204,740. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.13.

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.