2,936 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,936 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This trade represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,083 shares of company stock worth $37,204,740. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.13.

Ciena Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $348.53 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.02. The company has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 410.04, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.