Blair William & Co. IL Trims Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in Ciena by 15.9% in Q3, selling 3,510 shares and leaving 18,510 shares valued at about $2.696 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers — CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares for roughly $19.17 million (a 21.34% reduction), and insiders disposed of 156,235 shares worth $36.94 million over the past 90 days.
• Analysts grew more bullish after Ciena beat quarterly expectations (EPS $1.35 vs. $1.17; revenue up 33.1% YoY), with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $320.65, while top targets run as high as $425.

Blair William & Co. IL cut its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,510 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,510 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Ciena by 139.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Ciena by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total value of $19,170,170.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 307,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,641,134.40. This trade represents a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised their price objective on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Ciena in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.65.

Ciena Trading Down 0.8%

CIEN stock opened at $337.30 on Friday. 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 $47.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 214.84, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.88. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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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