Convergence Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 90.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,523 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,677 shares during the period. Ciena comprises approximately 1.0% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $5,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after buying an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,408.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,126,398.14. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. 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 sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $381.44.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $554.26 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $70.77 and a 12 month high of $598.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $454.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.14. The stock has a market cap of $78.37 billion, a PE ratio of 353.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share 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.