Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $20.74 Million Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 460,727 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 66,420 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.32% of Ciena worth $20,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $101,000. Smithfield Trust Co grew its position in shares of Ciena by 74.5% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 2,999 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 19.0% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $161,000. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $473,757.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,635,223.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $473,757.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,635,223.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 70,838 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $3,833,044.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,942,964.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 107,189 shares of company stock worth $5,754,880. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 0.3 %

CIEN opened at $46.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.25. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $39.94 and a twelve month high of $63.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ciena from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Ciena from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.79.

Ciena Company Profile

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.