31,530 Shares in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Acquired by King Luther Capital Management Corp

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp acquired 31,530 shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), valued at approximately $1.9 million, during the first quarter of 2023.
• Ciena reported quarterly earnings of $0.42 EPS, missing estimates, but showed a 23.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.13 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Ciena, with a consensus price target of $85.54 and recommendations ranging from sell to strong buy.

King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 31,530 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,905,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Ciena by 15.4% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,910 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.1% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,649 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,601,538.26. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,819 shares of company stock worth $2,047,280 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.54.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $90.89. 1,478,828 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,621,580. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $101.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.43 and a 200 day moving average of $76.65.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena Company Profile

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.