Eventide Asset Management LLC Purchases 9,456 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ciena Corporation (CIEN) by 50.8% during the first quarter, now holding 28,079 shares worth approximately $1.7 million.
• Equities analysts have a generally positive outlook on Ciena, with ratings varying from strong-buy to underweight, and a consensus average price target of $91.54.
• Ciena's recent earnings report showed $1.13 billion in revenue, with a net margin of 2.46%, although it missed earnings per share estimates by $0.08.

Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 50.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,079 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 9,456 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ciena by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,227,020 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $273,684,000 after acquiring an additional 49,996 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $183,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,260 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth about $70,065,000. Analog Century Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 33.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Ciena by 971.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,891,000 after buying an additional 661,630 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $3.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $122.12. 2,072,416 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,341,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.90, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $122.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,056.50. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.