Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stock Bought by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 512,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,505 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ciena were worth $180,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Ciena by 309.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,509,000 after acquiring an additional 168,736 shares in the last quarter. E20 Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $41,676,000. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $35,329,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth $33,013,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ciena from $635.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.52, for a total value of $568,612.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,186,636.40. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 97 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total transaction of $34,453.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,053,635.84. The trade was a 0.09% 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 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $242.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $34.45 billion, a PE ratio of 54.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $350.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $402.53. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $168.22 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

About Ciena

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.