State of Michigan Retirement System Raises Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,504 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ciena were worth $14,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $446.97 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $80.83 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $401.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.27 billion, a PE ratio of 148.99 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, 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. One equities 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company 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.