Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Lifted by Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.

Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 48.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 648,000 shares during the period. Ciena accounts for about 3.0% of Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $288,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $426,420,000 after buying an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,317,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.65.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $337.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $365.90. The company has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 214.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.30.

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. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,131 shares of company stock valued at $34,898,686. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by 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.