First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 525,130 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,403 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $76,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 8.5%

NYSE CIEN opened at $319.11 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $276.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.35. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $365.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 203.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $355.00 in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.13.

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.