Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Raised by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 95.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,236,835 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,092,980 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.58% of Ciena worth $523,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,889 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% during 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. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 212,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $49,731,000 after purchasing an additional 50,936 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Ciena by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Ciena by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $445.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $63.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $521.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.71. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $71.72 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.92, for a total transaction of $1,670,595.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 269,557 shares in the company, valued at $152,547,697.44. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,174 shares of company stock worth $19,502,359 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Argus set a $650.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

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.