Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 49.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 514,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 508,915 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.37% of Ciena worth $120,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after buying an additional 359,579 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $568,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Ciena by 38.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 112,011 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,317,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,283 shares of company stock worth $34,372,491. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus upped their price objective on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.12.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $408.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 260.37, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $302.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.52. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $419.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS 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 net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.