New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $48.43 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its Ciena stake by 12.0% in the first quarter, ending with 124,746 shares valued at about $48.43 million.
• Several Ciena insiders have recently sold shares, including SVPs Joseph Cumello and Brodie Gage, while insiders overall sold 17,120 shares last quarter.
• Analysts remain upbeat on Ciena after strong earnings, with the company beating estimates on both EPS and revenue; the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $530.56.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,746 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 16,939 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Ciena worth $48,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $422.47 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $513.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $389.62. The company has a market cap of $59.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.82 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $76.89 and a twelve month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation NYSE: CIEN is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena's product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.

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