Primecap Management Co. CA Increases Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Ciena Corporation by 3.2% after purchasing an additional 14,870 shares, bringing its total holdings to 478,550 shares valued at approximately $28.9 million.
• 91.99% of Ciena's stock is currently held by institutional investors, with significant increases in holdings reported by Bessemer Group and MassMutual Private Wealth in recent quarters.
• Several analysts have issued new price targets for Ciena, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.54, despite Ciena missing earnings estimates in its latest report.

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 478,550 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,870 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.34% of Ciena worth $28,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 195.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $392,345,000 after buying an additional 3,062,883 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in Ciena by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $183,987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,260 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 4,215.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 899,828 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $76,314,000 after acquiring an additional 878,979 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 971.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $61,891,000 after acquiring an additional 661,630 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at $40,919,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $89.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CIEN traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,021,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,800,903. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $47.96 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 132.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $81.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $28,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,601,538.26. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,469 shares of company stock worth $2,817,891 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.