Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 5,245.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,060 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $10,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,437 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $627,567,000 after acquiring an additional 145,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $292,310,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $19,502,359. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $628.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.22. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $70.77 and a 1-year high of $629.61. The firm has a market cap of $88.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 400.63 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CIEN. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.39.

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.