69,000 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by Apis Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Apis Capital Advisors LLC invested approximately $4.17 million in Ciena Corporation by purchasing 69,000 shares, making it the 17th largest position in their portfolio.
• Ciena's stock has undergone considerable institutional buying, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Bank of America Corp and Polar Capital Holdings Plc.
• Ciena reported earnings of $0.42 per share, missing estimates, but showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 23.6%, totaling $1.13 billion in the last quarter.

Apis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 69,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,170,000. Ciena makes up 2.0% of Apis Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth approximately $70,065,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its stake in Ciena by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $183,987,000 after buying an additional 1,154,260 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 971.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,891,000 after buying an additional 661,630 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ciena by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,238,284 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $105,019,000 after purchasing an additional 257,197 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth about $12,973,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $31,829.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. This trade represents a 0.80% 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. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction of $166,872.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of CIEN stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.25. 2,802,498 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,331,108. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $88.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.17. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $122.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.49, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities set a $100.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.32.

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.