Quantitative Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,325 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,121,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth approximately $3,244,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in 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 valued at $6,438,000 after buying an additional 25,225 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ciena by 37,022.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 135,124 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,249,000 after buying an additional 134,760 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $381.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $414.29 and a 200-day moving average of $437.16. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $90.00 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $54.03 billion, a PE ratio of 127.24 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 4,995 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.72, for a total transaction of $2,151,446.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,310,583.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.78, for a total value of $1,321,846.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 246,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,167,313.40. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 22,470 shares of company stock valued at $9,967,521 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price target on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $720.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, August 24th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.22.

Ciena 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.