Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $19.76 Million Stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,017 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 4,105 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ciena worth $19,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ciena by 195.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $392,345,000 after buying an additional 3,062,883 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its position in Ciena by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $183,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,260 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ciena by 4,215.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 899,828 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $76,314,000 after purchasing an additional 878,979 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ciena by 971.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,891,000 after purchasing an additional 661,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.35, for a total transaction of $546,380.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 332,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,704,884.95. This represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.60, for a total value of $25,410.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 45,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,331,105.80. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,919 shares of company stock worth $3,115,199. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded up $3.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $81.31. 3,647,139 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,145,118. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.89 and a 52 week high of $101.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.