Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires Shares of 111,133 Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 111,133 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,924,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.08% of Ciena as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Ciena by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Ciena by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,649 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Ciena by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $28,899.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,601,538.26. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,269 shares of company stock valued at $3,306,811 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,115,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,458. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.89 and a 1-year high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The company's 50-day moving average is $79.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.88.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Ciena's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.