Nordea Investment Management AB Makes New $3.07 Million Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,893 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,071,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $402.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $316.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.24. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $446.89. The stock has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 256.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at $11,370,344.50. The trade was a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,283 shares of company stock valued at $36,397,491. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.12.

Ciena Company 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.