BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Lowers Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 65.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,035 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,336 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $1,348,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,519,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Ciena by 126.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,413 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Spear Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,947,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Ciena by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,028 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $459.82 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.55 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. 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 capitalization of $65.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.28 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $519.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $375.02.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Argus set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,374 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,470. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.