1,266 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Ciena in 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $580.31 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $435.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $304.80. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.77 and a 12-month high of $593.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.06 billion, a PE ratio of 369.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total value of $1,587,408.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,126,398.14. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total value of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at $21,297,072.39. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.