Riverwater Partners LLC Sells 2,960 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Riverwater Partners LLC cut its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,057 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,960 shares during the period. Ciena accounts for 1.2% of Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 107.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CIEN. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.65, for a total transaction of $741,216.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 304,892 shares in the company, valued at $75,506,503.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,890 shares of company stock valued at $38,277,035. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CIEN opened at $232.13 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.41. The company has a market cap of $32.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 273.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.