Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Aristotle Capital Boston LLC

Key Points

• Aristotle Capital Boston reduced its stake in Ciena by 6.3%, selling 3,603 shares and leaving it with 53,779 shares valued at about $7.83 million, while institutional investors own roughly 91.99% of the stock.
• Corporate insiders have been net sellers recently — including CEO Gary B. Smith and a director — with 156,235 shares sold over the last 90 days worth about $36.94 million, leaving insiders with only 0.58% ownership.
• Analysts have grown more bullish after a strong quarter (EPS $1.35 vs $1.17 expected; revenue +33.1% YoY), with multiple upgrades and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target of $320.65.

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,779 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,603 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $7,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 4.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $355.00 in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $320.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.64, for a total value of $1,046,897.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,986,207.04. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,235 shares of company stock worth $36,941,890. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $337.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a PE ratio of 214.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $284.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.44. 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 $49.21 and a 1 year high of $365.90.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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