Blueshift Asset Management LLC Makes New $439,000 Investment in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has acquired 7,269 shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), valued at approximately $439,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the communications equipment provider.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded Ciena's stock, with Wolfe Research assigning a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting increasing confidence in the company's performance amid recent earnings reports.
• Following recent insider transactions, including CEO Gary B. Smith selling 6,800 shares at an average price of $82.23, insider ownership has decreased but executives still retain significant stakes in the company.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,269 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $2.72 on Wednesday, hitting $94.21. 1,038,362 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,308,832. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.51 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.18 and a 200 day moving average of $76.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $199,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,469 shares of company stock valued at $2,817,891. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.