Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Position Cut by TD Asset Management Inc

TD Asset Management Inc lowered its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 201,882 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 17,942 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.14% of Ciena worth $12,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,398,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 50.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,792,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,244.72. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,469 shares of company stock worth $2,817,891. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of CIEN traded down $4.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.55. 2,151,918 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,854,653. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $44.89 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The firm has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.19.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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.