Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP increased its Ciena holdings by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its stake to 15,551 shares worth about $3.64 million.
• Several analysts raised their price targets on Ciena after recent coverage, with the consensus rating at Moderate Buy and an average target price of $530.56.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $1.64 EPS and $1.57 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 39.5% year over year.

Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,551 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Ciena were worth $3,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Ciena from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total value of $1,226,585.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $18,441,027. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $445.32 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $521.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.04 billion, a PE ratio of 148.44 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $71.72 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

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

About Ciena

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.