New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $48.43 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 124,746 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 16,939 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ciena were worth $48,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This trade represents 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $422.47 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $389.62. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $76.89 and a one year high of $637.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.80 billion, a PE ratio of 140.82 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CIEN. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Company 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.