Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 165,515 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn boosted its stake in Ciena by 185.5%, buying 165,515 shares to hold 254,738 shares (about 0.18% of the company) valued at roughly $37.11 million at quarter end.
• Ciena beat quarterly estimates with EPS $1.35 vs $1.17 and revenue of $1.43B (up 33.1% YoY); analysts rate the stock a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target near $320.65 and several targets raised as high as $380.00.
• Insiders have sold a total of 156,235 shares (~$36.94M) in the last 90 days while institutional investors own about 91.99% of the stock and Ciena's market cap is roughly $47.7 billion.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 185.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 254,738 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 165,515 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Ciena worth $37,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $337.30 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $365.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.69 billion, a PE ratio of 214.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $320.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.

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.