Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stock: Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,407 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $9,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $436,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth $481,000. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 4.3% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at $22,825,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,383,643.72. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total value of $1,016,834.87. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,578.89. This represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock valued at $13,216,540 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $485.93.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $229.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $402.52. The stock has a market cap of $32.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.31, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $168.22 and a 12 month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.