Boothbay Fund Management LLC Reduces Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management cut its Ciena stake by 61.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 100,868 shares and leaving it with 62,259 shares valued at about $14.6 million.
• Ciena posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 topping estimates and revenue of $1.57 billion beating expectations; revenue also rose 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an average Moderate Buy rating and consensus target of about $530.56.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 61.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,259 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 100,868 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $14,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $941,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,193,300,000 after purchasing an additional 750,128 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $947,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $284,313,000 after purchasing an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Up 1.3%

CIEN opened at $435.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.30 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.23 and a 12 month high of $637.51.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,843,817.10. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 45,374 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,470 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently 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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