Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC Buys Shares of 19,349 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 19,349 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,000. Ciena accounts for about 0.2% of Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 103,199 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after buying an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,655,012 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $134,602,000 after buying an additional 182,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena in the second quarter valued at about $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,083 shares of company stock worth $37,204,740. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Argus upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.13.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $344.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $346.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.37. The company has a market capitalization of $48.70 billion, a PE ratio of 405.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ciena

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.