16,098 Shares in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Bought by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,098 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $973,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,269 shares of company stock worth $3,306,811 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.59. 1,115,963 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,030,458. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.04, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $79.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.88. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.89 and a 52 week high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena 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.