Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Boosted by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 144.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,751 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $4,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 42.5% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.61.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 1.8%

CIEN stock opened at $580.59 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.77 and a twelve month high of $605.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $82.09 billion, a PE ratio of 369.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.74.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.