Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 3,010 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 62,852 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,010 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ciena were worth $22,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 21,199 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,458,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its stake in Ciena by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 30,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,621,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 764.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 5,063 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in Ciena by 255.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 8,606 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,054,000 after buying an additional 6,188 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 440.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,887 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $62,894,000 after buying an additional 135,218 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Marc Graff sold 97 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $34,453.43. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 107,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,053,635.84. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.08, for a total transaction of $412,896.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,723,837.84. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,540 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $272.59 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $402.93. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $168.22 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The firm has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 60.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The business’s revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Evercore raised shares of Ciena from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure. The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.