Madison Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,216 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,327 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $4,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total transaction of $784,051.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,195,264. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 157,242 shares of company stock valued at $36,341,766. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $297.41 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $239.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.27. The company has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.90, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $308.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.