Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 507.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management lifted its stake in Ciena by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 205 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 910 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Ciena by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 358 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $635.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 4th. CL King set a $347.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ciena from $508.00 to $394.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Argus set a $550.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $485.93.

Ciena Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded up $12.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $242.93. The company had a trading volume of 4,717,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,292,244. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $168.22 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $350.63 and its 200-day moving average is $402.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.33.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total value of $974,691.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,284,802.68. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total transaction of $1,016,834.87. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,578.89. This represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure.

The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.

Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, Ciena serves communications service providers, governments, enterprises and other organizations around the world.