Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by LHM Inc.

Key Points

• LHM Inc. has reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 39.6%, selling 27,759 shares and leaving it with 42,386 shares, valued at approximately $2.56 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bessemer Group Inc. and AdvisorNet Financial Inc., have significantly increased their holdings in Ciena, reflecting growing investor interest in the company.
• Ciena's recent earnings report indicated a 23.6% year-over-year revenue increase, though its EPS of $0.42 missed analysts' expectations of $0.50.

LHM Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 39.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,386 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 27,759 shares during the period. Ciena comprises about 0.8% of LHM Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. LHM Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 16.7% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 5,869 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Ciena by 17.7% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 3,525 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter worth about $70,065,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $1,905,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,322 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Down 0.6%

Ciena stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.89. 1,478,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,283,661. The company has a current ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $83.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.57. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 126.24, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CIEN. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,819 shares of company stock worth $2,047,280. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena 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.