Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 94.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,900 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Ciena were worth $13,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter worth $31,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.59.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $516.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $395.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.51. The company has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 328.68, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.01. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.42 and a fifty-two week high of $527.86.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total value of $1,061,332.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,372,490.52. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.