Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Has $8.56 Million Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC decreased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,603 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,176 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $8,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $104,156,000 after acquiring an additional 155,712 shares during the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1,095.8% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,438,000 after acquiring an additional 25,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 222.7% during the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after buying an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $435.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $61.70 billion, a PE ratio of 145.30 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $521.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.05. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.23 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena 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 trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Ciena 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. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,374 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,470. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Argus set a $650.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

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.