Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $96.26 Million Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,138,691 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 128,603 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.48% of Ciena worth $96,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 166.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,987 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 5,615 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 6.5% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,293 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Ciena by 50.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 122,665 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $5,797,000 after purchasing an additional 40,864 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter worth $328,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Ciena by 15.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 27,920 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CIEN opened at $47.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.18 and a 200 day moving average of $48.26. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $63.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.20, for a total value of $501,586.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 407,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,521,988.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.20, for a total transaction of $501,586.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 407,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,521,988.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 3,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.74, for a total transaction of $144,355.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,561.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,351 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,835. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.