Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359,461 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,097 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.25% of Ciena worth $21,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ciena by 40.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,398,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 50.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,792,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $199,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,175,434.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,469 shares of company stock valued at $2,747,647. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.08.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $84.48. 827,296 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,150,855. The company has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.20, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $44.89 and a 12-month high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.