Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Lowered by Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.

Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,656,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 326,828 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises approximately 4.4% of Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 1.17% of Ciena worth $387,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $1,141,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Ciena by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 11,532 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in Ciena by 556.7% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 11,479 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 9,731 shares in the last quarter. Atreides Management LP boosted its stake in Ciena by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 1,428,230 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,020,000 after purchasing an additional 27,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,374 shares of company stock worth $20,349,470. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Argus set a $650.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $435.91 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.23 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $521.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $61.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.30 and a beta of 1.24.

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

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.