JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 1,219,787 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 4.59% of Ciena worth $941,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $302.04 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $308.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 355.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 157,131 shares of company stock valued at $36,320,587. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.67.

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.