Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its Ciena stake by 17.1% in the first quarter, selling 191,284 shares and ending with 926,858 shares valued at about $359.8 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ciena, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56 after several firms raised targets sharply.
• Ciena beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $1.64 on revenue of $1.57 billion, both above estimates, while revenue jumped 39.5% year over year.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 926,858 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 191,284 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.66% of Ciena worth $359,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth 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. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 85.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 141 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares in the company, valued at $153,163,683.45. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $373.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.57 and a beta of 1.27. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $495.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $403.75. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $83.20 and a one year high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The company 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 company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

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.

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