Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Versor Investments LP

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP cut its Ciena stake by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,608 shares and leaving it with 6,494 shares worth about $1.52 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with recent upgrades and higher price targets from firms including Zacks, Rosenblatt, TD Cowen, UBS, and Barclays; the consensus rating is now Moderate Buy with a $367.56 target price.
• Insider selling has been notable, including sales by CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Jason Phipps, while Ciena’s latest earnings beat estimates with $1.35 EPS on $1.43 billion in revenue, up 33.1% year over year.

Versor Investments LP lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,494 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 2,608 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,379,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Ciena by 344.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 29,457 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $6,889,000 after buying an additional 22,822 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $298,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 549.0% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 331 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Ciena by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,074 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CIEN. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $367.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total transaction of $1,061,332.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,372,490.52. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $580.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. 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 one year low of $70.77 and a one year high of $593.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $435.81 and its 200-day moving average is $304.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS 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.

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