OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $9.56 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 24,637 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,565,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 40,374 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,470. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $484.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $68.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.43 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $518.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $380.77. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $76.89 and a one year 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

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.