Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys New Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,872 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 309.8% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,509,000 after purchasing an additional 168,736 shares during the period. E20 Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,676,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Ciena by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 512,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $180,239,000 after purchasing an additional 97,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ardmore Road Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,329,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 2,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.91, for a total value of $1,016,834.87. Following the sale, the director owned 8,279 shares in the company, valued at $2,946,578.89. This trade represents a 25.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.18, for a total value of $974,691.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,284,802.68. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price (down from $660.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Ciena from $538.43 to $406.81 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $485.93.

Ciena Trading Up 1.2%

CIEN opened at $272.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $346.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $402.93. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $168.22 and a one year high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

About Ciena

Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure. The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.