Ion Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 80,426 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Ion Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena Corporation by 6.3%, representing about 5.3% of its portfolio with a total stake valued at $81,989,000.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Ciena's stock, with UBS raising its target price to $78 and Wolfe Research rating it as a strong buy, whereas Wall Street Zen downgraded it from a buy to a hold.
• Ciena reported a 23.6% increase in revenue year-over-year for the last quarter, reaching $1.13 billion, despite missing earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.42.

Ion Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,356,752 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 80,426 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for approximately 5.3% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ion Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.95% of Ciena worth $81,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 50.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Ciena by 66.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Ciena by 9,162.5% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $7.65 on Wednesday, reaching $129.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,832,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,337,950. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $90.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $130.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $127.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,326,705 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ciena

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.