Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys New Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Asset Management One initiated a new position in Ciena, buying 54,863 shares worth about $13.1 million in Q4, joining other institutions that now own roughly 91.99% of the stock.
• Company insiders sold a total of 42,974 shares (~$16.6M) over the last three months, including a Rule 10b5-1 sale by SVP Jason Phipps and a sale by CEO Gary B. Smith, leaving insiders with just 0.58% ownership.
• Ciena beat Q4 estimates with $1.35 EPS and $1.43B revenue (revenue up 33.1% YoY), but the stock trades at a rich valuation (P/E ~320) and above the consensus target (~$355.59), near its 52-week high.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 54,863 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,107,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in Ciena by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 191,980 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $44,898,000 after acquiring an additional 77,425 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in Ciena by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 28,768 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $6,728,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Finally, Oceanside Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 42,974 shares of company stock worth $16,615,505 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $503.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 320.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $382.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.77. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $56.94 and a 52-week high of $517.88.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $355.59.

Ciena 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.

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