CI Investments Inc. Has $49.94 Million Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• CI Investments Inc. cut its Ciena position by 25.3% in the first quarter, but still held 128,643 shares worth about $49.94 million.
• Ciena posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 beating estimates and revenue of $1.57 billion rising 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $530.56, though some recent ratings were mixed.

CI Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 25.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,643 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 43,634 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. owned 0.09% of Ciena worth $49,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $104,156,000 after acquiring an additional 155,712 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its stake 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 worth $154,585,000 after purchasing an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth about $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Ciena by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $160,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Ciena from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $407.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.20 and a 12 month high of $637.51. The firm has a market cap of $57.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50-day moving average price is $487.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $407.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.