Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its stake in Ciena by 983.2% in the first quarter, ending with 17,168 shares valued at about $6.7 million.
• Ciena reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 versus estimates of $1.46 and revenue of $1.57 billion versus $1.50 billion, while revenue jumped 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $530.56, even as some insiders recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 983.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,168 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,583 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Ciena were worth $6,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Ciena by 635.7% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $389.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.72 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $498.61 and a 200-day moving average of $403.96. 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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. 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, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

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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