AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Invests $1.38 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs opened a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter, buying 5,895 shares worth about $1.38 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted or initiated large stakes in Ciena, and institutional investors now own 91.99% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts remain upbeat overall: Ciena has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $367.56, while the company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,895 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,379,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth about $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $941,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Ciena by 2,174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $166,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Ciena by 3,577.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CIEN. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.56.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $577.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $70.77 and a 12 month high of $593.00. The firm has a market cap of $81.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 367.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $440.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.70.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total transaction of $566,148.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,297,072.39. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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