Ciena Corporation $CIEN Position Lifted by Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.

Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 648,000 shares during the period. Ciena comprises approximately 3.0% of Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. owned 1.41% of Ciena worth $288,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.65.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $337.50 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $284.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.30. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90. The stock has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 214.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 147,131 shares of company stock worth $34,898,686 over the last 90 days. 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.