Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC Invests $1.52 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,493 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,519,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake 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 valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,374 shares of company stock worth $20,349,470. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $519.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.01. The company has a market cap of $60.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.67 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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 note on Thursday, April 16th. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.