Virtue Capital Management LLC Sells 3,077 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Virtue Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 598 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,077 shares during the quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $22,825,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 30,890 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,254 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $918,000. Finally, Kassira Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kassira Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 5.6%

CIEN stock opened at $300.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $359.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $402.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $168.22 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.33.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total transaction of $1,016,834.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,946,578.89. This represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total transaction of $974,691.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,284,802.68. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 33,062 shares of company stock worth $12,336,372 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. Argus set a $550.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.