Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Acquired by Castle Hook Partners LP

Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 556.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,479 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,731 shares during the quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ciena from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $435.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $521.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.05. The stock has a market cap of $61.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.30 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.23 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This trade represents a 1.10% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,374 shares of company stock worth $20,349,470. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Company Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CIEN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.