Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Increased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 828.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,027 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,117 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $319,000. Munro Partners bought a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $81,128,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 177.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. M & L Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $714,000. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Northland Securities set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.50.

Ciena Stock Down 1.2%

CIEN stock opened at $238.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a PE ratio of 280.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.85. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.46, for a total transaction of $1,587,528.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 391,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,384,882.02. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,349 shares of company stock valued at $10,201,684 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ciena

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.