Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Reduces Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its Ciena stake by 70.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 64,922 shares and ending with 27,031 shares valued at about $6.42 million.
• Insider selling has continued at Ciena, including CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Brodie Gage, with insiders selling 42,974 shares worth $17.4 million over the last three months.
• Ciena’s latest results were strong, with quarterly EPS of $1.35 topping estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $1.43 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy.”

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,031 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 64,922 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Ciena were worth $6,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,408.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,461 shares in the company, valued at $148,126,398.14. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total value of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,297,072.39. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $367.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $590.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $83.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 376.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $450.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.46. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $598.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena Company 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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