Atlatl Advisers LLC Sells 2,245 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Atlatl Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,638 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Down 0.0%

Ciena stock opened at $583.65 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $70.77 and a 52 week high of $599.50. The company has a market capitalization of $82.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 371.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $483.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.92.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Company 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.