Inspire Investing LLC Reduces Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 39.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,436 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,493 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $339,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 959.1% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 77,780 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,767,000 after buying an additional 70,436 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ciena by 52.4% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 7,737 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,661 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 81,232 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Finally, Lumbard & Kellner LLC raised its position in Ciena by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC now owns 65,799 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total value of $170,835.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 212,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,368,269.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $130,962.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 96,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,635,840. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total transaction of $170,835.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 212,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,368,269.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,712 shares of company stock valued at $498,637. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $60.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 4.06 and a quick ratio of 2.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.79. The company has a market capitalization of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $39.94 and a 1 year high of $63.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CIEN. Raymond James lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ciena from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ciena from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.