Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 42.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,166 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,051 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 635.7% in the first 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 during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 85.5% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in Ciena by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ciena from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ciena and Telefónica Deutschland said they are using AI agents to speed up 5G network slicing, highlighting Ciena’s role in helping carriers automate and monetize advanced network services. Ciena and Telefónica Deutschland Use AI Agents to Speed Up 5G Network Slicing
• Positive Sentiment: Ciena unveiled a 1.6 Tb/s coherent pluggable solution aimed at hyperscale cloud providers, a sign the company is expanding its data-center and high-bandwidth connectivity portfolio. Ciena Unveils 1.6 Tb/s Coherent Pluggable Solution for Hyperscale Cloud Providers’ Capacity Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Blue Planet introduced Configuration and Change Management, which supports Ciena’s software-led automation strategy and could strengthen its enterprise and service-provider offerings. Ciena Corporation (CIEN)’s Blue Planet Division Introduced Blue Planet Configuration and Change Management
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks roundup highlighted CIEN as one of several liquid, efficient stocks with growth potential, reinforcing a generally constructive view but without new company-specific catalysts. Bet on 4 Top-Performing Liquid Stocks to Maximize Portfolio Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on how Ciena is scaling its data-center connectivity portfolio adds visibility to its growth strategy, though it does not appear to be a direct earnings or guidance update. How is Ciena Scaling Its Data Center Connectivity Portfolio?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sale headlines from Jason Phipps and CEO Gary Smith may create some caution, although the reported share sales were relatively small and are not necessarily a bearish signal on fundamentals. Jason Phipps Sells 2,629 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Gary Smith Sells 2,952 Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $461.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.71 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $508.61 and a 200-day moving average of $397.18. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $76.89 and a 52 week high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,827 shares of company stock valued at $11,541,133. 0.58% of the stock is owned by 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.