Meeder Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,155 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management opened a new position in Ciena, buying 3,155 shares valued at about $1.225 million in the first quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with several firms sharply raising price targets; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $530.56.
• Ciena posted a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.64 and revenue of $1.57 billion, both ahead of estimates, while revenue jumped 39.5% year over year.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,155 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Ciena by 635.7% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 85.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 141 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 1.0%

CIEN stock opened at $378.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $53.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.10 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.20 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $491.11 and a 200-day moving average of $405.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Ciena Profile

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.

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