Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New $537,000 Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,684 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% in the first 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 Ciena by 1.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Ciena by 14.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN opened at $253.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $232.85 and its 200-day moving average is $172.01. The stock has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a PE ratio of 297.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $285.97.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total value of $784,051.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at $80,195,264. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

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.