47,975 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by Front Street Capital Management Inc.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 47,975 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,535,000. Ciena makes up 2.7% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ciena by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $371.64 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $89.41 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $418.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $433.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,638,117 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $450.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus set a $650.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $527.78.

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.