William Blair Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 55.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,098,593 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,342,295 shares during the period. Ciena accounts for about 0.7% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.78% of Ciena worth $256,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $292,310,000. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Ciena by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $288,864,000 after buying an additional 648,000 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena 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 approximately $25,074,931.65. This trade represents a 2.66% 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, 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 value of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. This trade represents a 1.07% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $583.65 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $70.77 and a one year high of $599.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $478.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.12. The company has a market cap of $82.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 371.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.83.

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.