Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 1,845.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,727 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,649 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.10% of Ciena worth $20,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Circle Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Atreides Management LP grew its stake in Ciena by 10.9% in the third quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 1,400,764 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $204,049,000 after purchasing an additional 137,946 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth about $669,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Ciena by 0.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 253,068 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,864,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.65.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $337.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $284.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 214.97, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.