Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 200.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $37,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ciena by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,193,300,000 after buying an additional 750,128 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $947,554,000 after buying an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $376.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.42 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.40.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 254,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,498,203.38. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena 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.