Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 15.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,298 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,052 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake 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 worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 29.8% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total transaction of $784,051.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 301,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,195,264. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $271.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $234.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $285.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 319.86, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

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.