IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 1,100 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ciena were worth $12,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st 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. bought a new position in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CIEN. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.36, for a total transaction of $56,619.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,081 shares in the company, valued at $57,105,118.16. This trade 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 sold 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 5.9%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $461.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.32 billion, a PE ratio of 153.83 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $76.89 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $517.03 and a 200 day moving average of $387.95.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued 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. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena 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.