Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $2.40 Million in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 39,690 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,398,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $887,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,897 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $73.83. 1,496,831 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,085,397. The firm has a market cap of $10.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.55, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.12. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.89 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.57.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.15.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $543,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 362,080 shares in the company, valued at $28,926,571.20. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,175,434.10. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,138 shares of company stock valued at $3,517,997. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena 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.