Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 3,289 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Dai ichi Life Insurance reduced its Ciena holdings by 42.2% in the first quarter, selling 3,289 shares and retaining 4,507 shares valued at approximately $1.75 million. Institutional investors collectively own 91.99% of Ciena.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 exceeding estimates of $1.46 and revenue rising 39.5% year over year to $1.57 billion. The company’s current stock price was $389.93, with a market capitalization of $55.19 billion.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $530.56, although company insiders sold 21,627 shares worth nearly $11 million during the latest quarter.

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,507 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,289 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. KBC Group NV grew its stake 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 valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $104,156,000 after buying an additional 155,712 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% in the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,244,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $160,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $389.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $477.15 and a 200-day moving average of $410.54. The firm has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.98 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Ciena's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at $119,498,203.38. This trade represents a 1.14% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Company 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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