Lumbard & Kellner LLC Makes New Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Lumbard & Kellner LLC bought a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,731 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $253,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ciena by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Ciena by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,083 shares of company stock worth $37,204,740. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $348.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.45. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $365.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.30 billion, a PE ratio of 410.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.13.

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.