Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires Shares of 57,618 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 57,618 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,265,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ciena by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,193,300,000 after buying an additional 750,128 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after buying an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $450.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Ciena from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $527.78.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $377.07 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $90.00 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The company has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.69 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $415.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $435.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,921,580.10. This 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,422 shares of company stock worth $11,638,117 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Ciena

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ciena enters the earnings report with a reported $7.7 billion backlog, momentum in cloud connectivity and demand for networks supporting artificial-intelligence workloads. These factors could support revenue growth and another earnings beat. Ciena Stock Ahead of Q3 Earnings: Buy, Sell, or Wait for the Results?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent surveys indicate that telecom providers in India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia expect AI-based network services to create new revenue opportunities. The findings reinforce Ciena’s long-term exposure to AI infrastructure spending and optical-network upgrades. Ciena survey: 67% of Indian telcos foresee AI-driven network revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company reaffirmed its Buy rating, while analysts expect earnings growth and see potential for Ciena to exceed quarterly expectations. Needham Reaffirms Buy Rating for Ciena
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results shortly. Investors are likely waiting for updated guidance, order trends and evidence that AI-driven demand is translating into shipments and margins. Ciena Expected to Post Quarterly Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Supply constraints remain a key execution risk. Delays in fulfilling strong demand could limit near-term revenue recognition and offset otherwise favorable AI and cloud trends. Ciena Stock Ahead of Q3 Earnings: Buy, Sell, or Wait for the Results?
• Negative Sentiment: Despite its growth outlook, Ciena trades at a demanding valuation, increasing the risk of profit-taking or a sharp reaction if earnings, guidance or backlog conversion fall short of elevated investor expectations. Is AI Network Demand Rewriting Ciena’s Story?

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.