Aquatic Capital Management LLC Invests $6.97 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 47,844 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,969,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the second quarter worth $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 2,174.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,557 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Ciena by 3,577.9% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,004,323 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,238,745 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $180,448,000 after acquiring an additional 957,187 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $355.00 in a report on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.65.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.64, for a total value of $1,046,897.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,986,207.04. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,131 shares of company stock valued at $34,898,686. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $337.50 on Monday. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $365.90. The firm has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a PE ratio of 214.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $284.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.30.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.