Ciena Corporation $CIEN Position Raised by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 4,003.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,659 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth about $3,244,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Ciena by 1,095.8% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,438,000 after buying an additional 25,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $407.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $487.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $407.13. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $83.20 and a one year high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CIEN. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value 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 represents a 2.73% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.