Tradewinds LLC. Invests $730,000 in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,010 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Atreides Management LP acquired a new position in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $102,705,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 3,577.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $83,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,323 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Ciena by 375.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,792 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its position in Ciena by 546.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after purchasing an additional 843,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Ciena by 1,883.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $64,028,000 after purchasing an additional 747,576 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Down 0.0%

Ciena stock opened at $243.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.34 billion, a PE ratio of 286.80, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $217.97 and its 200 day moving average is $156.87. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total value of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 143,514 shares of company stock worth $32,235,186 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.50.

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.