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

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter valued at $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 40.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter valued at $2,398,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 50.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,711 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,792,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were 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 directly owned 47,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total transaction of $559,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,770,552.11. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,469 shares of company stock worth $2,817,891. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $4.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.55. 2,151,918 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,962,251. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.89 and a 1 year high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.75 and a 200 day moving average of $76.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current 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.