Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 34.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,442 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 113,212 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Ciena worth $13,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,653 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $14,473,000 after purchasing an additional 69,236 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 49,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,749 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 118,751 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Evercore ISI reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.54.

Ciena Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CIEN traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $87.31. 814,913 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,259,438. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 121.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.75. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%.The business'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. Ciena has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related 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 transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $31,829.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,969 shares of company stock worth $2,694,781. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Company 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.