Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Grows Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,526 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Atreides Management LP bought a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,705,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3,577.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,323 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP lifted its stake in Ciena by 546.9% during the second quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after purchasing an additional 843,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth $49,221,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Northland Securities set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ciena from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.50.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.46, for a total value of $1,587,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,437 shares in the company, valued at $91,384,882.02. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 1,984 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.42, for a total value of $284,545.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 80,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,508,594.48. This trade represents a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 52,349 shares of company stock worth $10,201,684 in the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $238.72 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $202.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $33.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 280.85, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $248.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.