E20 Capital Ltd Acquires Shares of 107,349 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 107,349 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,676,000. Ciena comprises approximately 3.9% of E20 Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. E20 Capital Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Ciena as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Ciena by 139.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after buying an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $371.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $461.58 and a 200-day moving average of $413.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.79 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $84.41 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,576 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.