World Investment Advisors Lowers Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

World Investment Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,773 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,255 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Ciena were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 5.4%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $441.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.16 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $508.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $395.56. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $76.89 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ciena unveiled a 1.6 Tb/s coherent pluggable solution aimed at hyperscale cloud providers, a product launch that reinforces its role in high-speed AI and data-center connectivity. Ciena Unveils 1.6 Tb/s Coherent Pluggable Solution for Hyperscale Cloud Providers’ Capacity Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Ciena’s Blue Planet software and AI-driven network automation kept attention on growth in higher-margin software and enterprise 5G opportunities. Ciena Corporation (CIEN)’s Blue Planet Division Introduced Blue Planet Configuration and Change Management
• Positive Sentiment: Articles discussing Ciena’s data-center connectivity portfolio and its AI-powered 5G network slicing efforts with Telefónica Deutschland reinforced the growth narrative. How is Ciena Scaling Its Data Center Connectivity Portfolio?
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary argued Ciena still looks reasonably valued despite its strong year-to-date gains, suggesting investors continue to see upside if AI demand remains strong. Ciena: Great AI Prospects, But The Hurdle Is Too High
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider share sales by executives, including CFO Marc Graff and CEO-related filings, were disclosed, but the transactions were small and largely pre-planned under Rule 10b5-1. Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CFO Marc Graff Sells 126 Shares of Stock
• Negative Sentiment: One bearish take flagged valuation as a potential hurdle, warning that after a big rally the stock may be vulnerable if growth expectations cool. Ciena: Up 80 Percent YTD And Still Cheap

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,827 shares of company stock worth $11,541,133. 0.58% of the stock is 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.