Providence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 39,759 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Providence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 46.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,476 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 39,759 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN opened at $288.89 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $40.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 339.87, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $297.01.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,242 shares of company stock valued at $36,341,766. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.