Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 4,338 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 26.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,338 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $8,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 1.4%

CIEN opened at $377.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $84.41 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $53.41 billion, a PE ratio of 125.78 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $457.45 and a 200-day moving average of $413.52.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock worth $9,387,576. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.