LPL Financial LLC Acquires 10,856 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Ciena Corporation by 28.6% during the first quarter, owning 48,879 shares valued at approximately $2.95 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly modified their holdings in Ciena, with Price T Rowe Associates increasing its stake by 195.9% in the fourth quarter.
• Ciena reported $1.13 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, exceeding consensus estimates, but missed EPS expectations, posting $0.42 against the expected $0.50.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,879 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Ciena by 66.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 70.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,222 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock traded up $0.4740 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $87.1140. 34,475 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,255,126. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.75. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $101.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.62, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Evercore ISI reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ciena from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.54.

Ciena 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.