Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys Shares of 1,590 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,590 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $1,771,000. Forsta AP Fonden purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $9,659,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $189,891,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $3,407,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $1,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $420.39.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $628.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $503.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $345.22. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $70.77 and a one year high of $629.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market cap of $88.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 400.63 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $19,502,359. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.