Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,117 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,182,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 21.1% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.51, for a total transaction of $884,153.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,988 shares in the company, valued at $89,549,895.88. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,083 shares of company stock valued at $37,204,740. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.67.

Ciena Trading Up 5.1%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $334.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.36 billion, a PE ratio of 393.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $253.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.95. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $340.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.