10,080 Shares in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Acquired by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc purchased 10,080 shares of Ciena Corporation, valued at approximately $609,000, marking its entry into the stock during the first quarter.
• Ciena Corporation's recent earnings report revealed a missed EPS estimate of $0.42, but a revenue increase of 23.6% year-over-year to $1.13 billion.
• Institutional investors now control 91.99% of Ciena's stock, reflecting strong interest from major financial players in the company.

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,080 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $94.59. The stock had a trading volume of 831,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,301,905. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.20, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $47.13 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.39.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total transaction of $559,164.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,770,552.11. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,469 shares of company stock valued at $2,817,891 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.54.

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.