77,205 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position of 77,205 shares of Ciena in Q4, valued at about $18.06 million and representing roughly 0.05% of the company per its SEC filing.
• Ciena beat quarterly expectations with $1.35 EPS vs. $1.17 est. and $1.43B in revenue (up 33.1% YoY), and the stock opened at $402.67 (trading up ~3.8%) with a market cap near $56.9B.
• Insiders have been net sellers (CEO sold 83,552 shares) while analysts hold a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $327.12, below the current share price.

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 77,205 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,056,000. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Ciena as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $355.00 in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.12.

Ciena Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $402.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 256.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $316.01 and a 200 day moving average of $234.24. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $446.89.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. The trade was a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 148,283 shares of company stock valued at $36,397,491 over the last three months. Corporate 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.

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