KCM Investment Advisors LLC Takes $291,000 Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

KCM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,246 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd 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. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.92, for a total value of $1,670,595.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,547,697.44. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total transaction of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $18,441,027. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Up 3.6%

CIEN stock opened at $462.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.06 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. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $72.56 and a one year high of $637.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $521.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $366.77.

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