Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,412 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $292,310,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ciena by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $288,864,000 after acquiring an additional 648,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,836,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $267,593,000 after purchasing an additional 130,507 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 293,084 shares in the company, valued at $105,372,490.52. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $546.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.29 billion, a PE ratio of 348.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $427.16 and a 200-day moving average of $299.27. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $70.77 and a 52-week high of $583.78.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.56.

Ciena Company 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.