Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 89.5%, selling 337,116 shares and leaving it with 39,400 shares worth approximately $2.38 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ciena, with target prices ranging from $70.00 to $105.00, leading to an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.
• Ciena reported $1.13 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but its EPS of $0.42 missed the consensus estimate of $0.50.

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 89.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 337,116 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,649 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Trading Down 2.8%

CIEN traded down $2.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.28. The company had a trading volume of 730,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,555. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.19. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.89 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.57, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.11.

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). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The firm's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total transaction of $559,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 325,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,770,552.11. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,469 shares of company stock valued at $2,817,891 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

About Ciena

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.