Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 62.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249,586 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 423,049 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Ciena worth $12,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Ciena by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,529 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 9,542 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 23,954 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its position in Ciena by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 373,399 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,807,000 after purchasing an additional 64,215 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Ciena by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 346,064 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $15,576,000 after purchasing an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 135,509 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,099,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 4,166 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $204,800.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 376,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,522,357.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,288 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $63,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,883 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,267. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $204,800.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 376,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,522,357.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,832 shares of company stock valued at $769,636. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.25.

Ciena Trading Up 0.7 %

CIEN stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.16. 748,802 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,076,990. The company has a current ratio of 3.88, a quick ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.05. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $39.94 and a 1 year high of $63.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $910.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.80 million. Ciena had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 3.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.