BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 17,336 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• BI Asset Management cut its Ciena stake by 65.7% in the first quarter, selling 17,336 shares and ending with 9,035 shares worth about $3.51 million.
• Ciena’s most recent quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.64 versus $1.46 expected and revenue of $1.57 billion versus $1.50 billion expected, while revenue jumped 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with several firms raising price targets and the stock holding an average Moderate Buy rating and target price of $530.56.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 65.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,035 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 17,336 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Ciena were worth $3,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $104,156,000 after acquiring an additional 155,712 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Ciena by 164.0% in the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Ciena by 1,095.8% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,438,000 after acquiring an additional 25,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 222.7% in the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 8,003 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ciena from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $459.82 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.55 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.28 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $519.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $375.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business's revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% 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. Insiders sold a total of 40,374 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,470 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company 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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