Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Up 5.9%

Shares of CIEN opened at $580.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $435.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $304.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 369.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $70.77 and a 1-year high of $593.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total value of $1,061,332.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.56.

Ciena Profile

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.