Kestra Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 25.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,771 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $4,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Ciena by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% 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. Insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Down 7.0%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $389.17 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.20 and a 12-month high of $637.51. The company has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a PE ratio of 129.72 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $498.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $403.96.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.