Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Purchased by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,914 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,500 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.11% of Ciena worth $9,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Ciena by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN traded up $1.16 on Wednesday, reaching $79.82. 760,225 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,121,592. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.57. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.89 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $77.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a PE ratio of 110.86, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The firm's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,244.72. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,919 shares of company stock worth $3,115,199 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CIEN. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.08.

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.