BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Trims Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its shareholding in Ciena Corporation by 12.5%, selling 476,907 shares, and now owns approximately 2.36% of the company worth $202,664,000.
• Other investors such as National Bank of Canada FI and Bayforest Capital Ltd increased their stakes in Ciena during the same period, indicating a mixed sentiment among institutional investors.
• Ciena reported Q1 earnings with $0.42 EPS, missing estimates by $0.08, but its revenue was up 23.6% year-over-year, highlighting growth despite the earnings miss.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,353,358 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 476,907 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 2.36% of Ciena worth $202,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,398,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 48,879 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $2.4020 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.7620. The stock had a trading volume of 1,964,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,261,514. The firm's 50 day moving average is $84.70 and its 200 day moving average is $76.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.67, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $101.44.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Ciena has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.54.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at $3,934,791.92. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,969 shares of company stock worth $2,694,781. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.