Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $25.77 Million Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,919 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Ciena were worth $25,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% during the first 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 holdings in Ciena by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 29.8% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $271.88 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $38.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 319.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $285.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $234.17 and its 200 day moving average is $173.30.

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

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total value of $784,051.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,195,264. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,042 shares of company stock valued at $37,766,026. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Northland Securities set a $190.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

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.