Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Boosts Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 1,845.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 137,727 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 130,649 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $20,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after buying an additional 3,117 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings 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 valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $337.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $284.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.65.

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.