Citigroup Inc. Increases Stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 328,595 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 55,402 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Ciena worth $19,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 40.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $2,398,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 70.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,222 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,770,552.11. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,819 shares of company stock worth $2,047,280. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE CIEN traded down $0.53 on Friday, hitting $90.89. 1,478,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,580. 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 fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 126.24, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.62.

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

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.