Xponance Inc. Raises Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,341 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 9,774 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,321 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Ciena by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 65,144 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,079,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 2.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,585 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ciena from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Ciena from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.79.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 3,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.74, for a total transaction of $144,355.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,171 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,561.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 3,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.74, for a total value of $144,355.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,171 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,561.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $473,757.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,635,223.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,189 shares of company stock worth $5,754,880. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $45.68 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $63.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 9.92% and a net margin of 5.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.