Ciena Corporation $CIEN Position Raised by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Ciena Corporation by 30.6%, owning 596,830 shares valued at approximately $36 million, as reported in its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Polar Capital Holdings Plc, have significantly adjusted their positions in Ciena, with some increasing holdings by as much as 971.7% in recent quarters.
• Ciena Corporation's stock was trading at $95.14, with a market cap of $13.45 billion, while its latest earnings report showed a revenue rise of 23.6% year-over-year despite a slight miss on earnings per share.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 30.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 596,830 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 139,926 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.42% of Ciena worth $36,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $70,065,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its position in Ciena by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $183,987,000 after buying an additional 1,154,260 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Ciena by 971.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $61,891,000 after buying an additional 661,630 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $12,973,000. Finally, Analog Century Management LP grew its position in Ciena by 33.0% in the first quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 841,311 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $50,840,000 after buying an additional 208,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,557 shares in the company, valued at $26,770,552.11. This trade 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 sold 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,326,705. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $95.14 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average is $87.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The company has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.16.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Evercore ISI restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.08.

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.

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