Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,180 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,153 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $8,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $947,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,132 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second 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. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CIEN. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $428.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.55 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $519.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $373.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.67 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% 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 45,374 shares of company stock worth $20,349,470 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.