M & L Capital Management Ltd Acquires 31,350 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

M & L Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 639.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,250 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,350 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises approximately 1.8% of M & L Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. M & L Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Ciena were worth $8,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $292,310,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $288,864,000 after purchasing an additional 648,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Ciena by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,836,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $267,593,000 after purchasing an additional 130,507 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $408.78 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $419.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 260.37, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $302.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.52.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at $70,641,134.40. This represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 143,283 shares of company stock valued at $34,372,491 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.