Royal Bank of Canada decreased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 263,542 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,788 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Ciena were worth $102,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Ciena by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ciena by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $154,585,000 after purchasing an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.
Insider Activity at Ciena
In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $1,383,986.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,498,203.38. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. 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 18,675 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,576 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.
Ciena Trading Up 1.4%
NYSE:CIEN opened at $377.33 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $84.41 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $457.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $53.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.78 and a beta of 1.27.
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
About Ciena
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.
Featured Articles
- Five stocks we like better than Ciena
- Chevron’s Strong Quarter Shows Why It Still Leads the Energy Sector
- Amazon’s Earnings Beat Shows Why AWS Is Back at the Center of the Bull Case
- Apple’s Record Quarter Could Not Outrun Its Guidance Problem
- McKesson’s Compounding Keeps Adding Up
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CIEN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Ciena Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ciena and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
-limited-logo-1200x675.png){kind=logo}
