Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Decreased by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management cut its Ciena stake by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,500 shares and leaving it with 40,900 shares valued at about $9.6 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.35 beating estimates and revenue of $1.43 billion rising 33.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with several price target increases and a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” at an average target price of $367.56.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,900 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 26,500 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $9,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total value of $1,587,408.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $148,126,398.14. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 the business's stock in a transaction 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 $21,297,072.39. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $577.50 on Wednesday. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $593.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $440.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.66 billion, a PE ratio of 367.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.56.

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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