Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Lifted by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 587,200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,700 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.42% of Ciena worth $85,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 139.6% during 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. grew its position in Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,083 shares of company stock valued at $37,204,740 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Trading Down 3.5%

Ciena stock opened at $341.11 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.25 billion, a PE ratio of 401.31, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.25.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.13.

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.