Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Purchased by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 147.3% in the first quarter, ending with 190,949 shares valued at about $74.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 91.99% of Ciena’s shares, signaling heavy professional ownership.
• Ciena reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $1.64 and revenue of $1.57 billion, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $530.56.

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 147.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,949 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 113,744 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.14% of Ciena worth $74,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ciena by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Ciena by 53.0% during 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. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.4% in the second 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 period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $671,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Argus set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total transaction of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,374 shares of company stock worth $18,324,470. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Up 7.4%

Shares of CIEN opened at $459.82 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.55 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $65.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.28 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $519.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $375.02.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm 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%.Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

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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