Diversified Trust Co. Increases Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 64.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,848 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in Ciena by 9.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,034 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 1,954 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Down 11.3%

NYSE CIEN opened at $388.26 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $446.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $312.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.27. The stock has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 247.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.08.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total value of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,283 shares of company stock valued at $36,397,491. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CIEN. Barclays increased their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.12.

About Ciena

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.