Strs Ohio Invests $1.23 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has invested approximately $1.23 million in Ciena Corporation, acquiring 20,312 shares of the company.
• Research analysts have upgraded Ciena's stock ratings, with Bank of America increasing its price target from $135 to $155 and Zacks raising it from "hold" to "strong-buy."
• Insider transactions have been noted, including significant share sales by the SVP and CEO, reflecting a decrease in their ownership stakes.

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,312 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth about $70,065,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth about $49,221,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth about $12,973,000. Analog Century Management LP raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 33.0% in the first quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 841,311 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $50,840,000 after acquiring an additional 208,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 8,381.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 178,873 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,809,000 after acquiring an additional 176,764 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $127.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $138.48. The company had a trading volume of 3,140,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,133,935. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $139.74. The stock has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total transaction of $46,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,665,176. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,163. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.