Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,146,020 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 250,854 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $444,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st 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. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 141 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $378.31 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.20 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.55 billion, a PE ratio of 126.10 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $491.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CIEN. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’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 $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total transaction of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena 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.