B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Takes $1.72 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake of 7,370 Ciena shares in Q4 valued at approximately $1.72 million, while institutional investors now own about 91.99% of the company.
• Ciena posted a strong quarter (EPS $1.35 vs. $1.17 expected; revenue $1.43B, +33.1% YoY) and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" from analysts with an average price target of $355.59, including several upward revisions (Bank of America to $550).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Jason Phipps executed sales under pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans, with insiders selling about 42,974 shares (~$16.6M) in the last three months and currently owning ~0.58% of the stock.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,370 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $520.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $399.49 and a 200 day moving average of $280.96. 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 market cap of $73.58 billion, a PE ratio of 331.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $63.99 and a 52 week high of $527.86.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total value of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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