Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,516 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Ciena by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Ciena by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,549 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1.7% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.94.

Ciena Stock Down 2.2%

Ciena stock opened at $569.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.55, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $70.77 and a 1-year high of $605.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $496.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.05.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,074,931.65. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,163,683.45. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. 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 sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ciena

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.