Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Versor Investments LP

by · The Cerbat Gem

Versor Investments LP reduced its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report) by 28.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,494 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,608 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total value of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 293,084 shares in the company, valued at $105,372,490.52. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. 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 note on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.56.

View Our Latest Stock Report on CIEN

Ciena Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $580.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $435.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.80. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $70.77 and a 52-week high of $593.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ciena

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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