Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Raised by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,254 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 309.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,509,000 after acquiring an additional 168,736 shares in the last quarter. E20 Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,676,000. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,329,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,013,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $79,284,802.68. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,946,578.89. This trade represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,540 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $271.47 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $168.22 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $357.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $402.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CIEN. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ciena from $508.00 to $394.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $485.93.

Ciena Company Profile

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.