Ciena Corporation $CIEN Stake Lessened by Eventide Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management cut its Ciena stake by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,836 shares and leaving it with 13,502 shares valued at about $3.19 million.
• Insiders also sold stock, including CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Brodie Gage, with company insiders selling 41,222 shares over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain constructive on Ciena overall, with 13 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $530.56, while the company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Eventide Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 39.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,502 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 8,836 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $3,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 15,551 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 2,187 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 209,508 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $48,998,000 after acquiring an additional 25,242 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,236,835 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $523,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,980 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CIEN. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Down 0.1%

Ciena stock opened at $445.32 on Monday. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $521.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.89. 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 52 week low of $71.72 and a 52 week high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current 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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