Quantitative Investment Management LLC Invests $2.12 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,325 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,121,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 2,100.0% during the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 4,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $2,151,446.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 107,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,310,583.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 22,470 shares of company stock valued at $9,967,521 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $381.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.03 billion, a PE ratio of 127.24 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $414.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $437.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $90.00 and a 52-week high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CIEN. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.22.

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.