Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,616 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,962 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for 1.2% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $11,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Ciena by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 45,848 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,679,000 after purchasing an additional 19,899 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 828.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,027 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,937,000 after buying an additional 24,117 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $319,000. Munro Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,128,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 177.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $241.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 284.58, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $201.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.75. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $248.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 550 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.84, for a total value of $121,462.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 39,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,831,833.28. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total value of $1,309,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,090,510.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 45,549 shares of company stock worth $8,614,156 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CIEN. Bank of America increased their target price on Ciena from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

About Ciena

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.