Comerica Bank Lowers Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in Ciena by 7.6% in Q4, selling 3,111 shares and leaving 37,966 shares valued at about $8.88 million.
• Ciena beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.35 EPS vs. $1.17 estimated and revenue of $1.43 billion (up 33.1% YoY), while the stock trades near its 1-year high with a market cap around $67 billion.
• Insider selling was heavy (42,974 shares worth ~$16.6M over 90 days) even as institutional ownership stands at ~92% and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $355.59.

Comerica Bank cut its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,966 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,111 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Ciena were worth $8,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $1,993,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $1,726,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 222.7% during the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,712,000 after buying an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $568,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $474.18 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.71 and a 1 year high of $527.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $410.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.77. The company has a market cap of $67.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 302.03, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total transaction of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at $21,297,072.39. The trade was a 2.59% 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 Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 42,974 shares of company stock worth $16,615,505 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $355.59.

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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