Calamos Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Calamos Advisors LLC increased its Ciena stake by 40.1% in the first quarter, buying 5,879 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 20,543 shares worth about $7.98 million.
• Ciena delivered a strong quarterly earnings beat, posting $1.64 EPS versus the $1.46 consensus and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a target price of $530.56, while insiders have also been selling shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 40.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,543 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 5,879 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $7,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Ciena by 30,114.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $671,365,000 after buying an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $947,554,000 after buying an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth about $102,705,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $446.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $504.73 and a 200-day moving average of $401.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $80.83 and a 12 month high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.99 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Ciena's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares in the company, valued at $25,074,931.65. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

About Ciena

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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