Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Sells 1,330 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $73,476,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Ciena by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 201,552 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,072,000 after acquiring an additional 26,870 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $61.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $63.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.30, a PEG ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.94.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CIEN. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total value of $130,962.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 96,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,635,840. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $130,962.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 96,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,635,840. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,712 shares of company stock valued at $498,637. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena 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.