E20 Capital Ltd Makes New Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

E20 Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 107,349 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,676,000. Ciena comprises about 3.9% of E20 Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 12.4%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $371.37 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $461.58 and a 200-day moving average of $413.77. 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 capitalization of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 123.79 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $1,383,986.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at $119,498,203.38. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,576. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.