173,058 Shares in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Bought by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has acquired 173,058 shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), translating to an investment of approximately $10.46 million, marking a new position in the communications equipment provider.
• The stock's performance showed a quarterly revenue increase of 23.6% year-over-year, with reported earnings per share of $0.42, which missed the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ciena, with Citigroup lowering its price target from $98 to $75 while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, reflecting varied investor sentiment.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 173,058 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,458,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned about 0.12% of Ciena at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Ciena by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total transaction of $559,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,770,552.11. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,469 shares of company stock worth $2,817,891 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $2.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $94.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,363,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,310,040. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.27. The company has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.84, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.57. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $46.51 and a 52-week high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 2.46%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.