Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its holdings in Ciena Corporation by 8.6%, now owning approximately 1.67% of the company, valued at about $143.7 million.
• Multiple institutional investors are increasing their stakes in Ciena, with significant growth from Bessemer Group Inc. (50%), Bayforest Capital Ltd. (34.7%), and MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB (66.7%).
• Ciena reported quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share, missing analyst expectations, but noted a revenue increase of 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,377,478 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 225,053 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.67% of Ciena worth $143,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 66.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,934,791.92. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.54, for a total value of $615,672.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,244,586.78. This trade represents a 2.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,969 shares of company stock worth $2,694,781. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target (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 research note on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE CIEN opened at $86.5670 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a PE ratio of 120.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $84.43 and its 200 day moving average is $76.75.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%.The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Ciena has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share 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.

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