Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $31.90 Million Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 16.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,167 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,515 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $31,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. E20 Capital Ltd bought a new position in Ciena in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,676,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,507,000. Regal Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,165,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,022,000 after buying an additional 4,338 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Up 12.4%

CIEN stock opened at $371.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 123.79 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $461.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.77.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,576. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena 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.