6,866 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,866 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,606,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Ciena by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,549 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $623.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $88.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 396.86 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $512.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $351.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. This trade represents a 1.04% 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. Insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $19,502,359 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.