Citigroup Inc. Sells 18,264 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 6.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 256,575 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 18,264 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $37,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $1,726,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter valued at $253,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,317,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $342.69 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $348.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 403.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $258.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,083 shares of company stock worth $37,204,740. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ciena from $213.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.13.

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.