Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $488,000 Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC cut its Ciena stake by 74.1% in the first quarter, leaving it with 1,257 shares valued at about $488,000.
• Ciena beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $1.64 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion, with revenue up 39.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $530.56, while several firms raised their targets recently.

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 74.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,257 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,595 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth $9,565,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Ciena by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 13,669 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,306,000 after buying an additional 4,117 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $240,000. XML Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at about $370,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 147.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 190,949 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $74,132,000 after buying an additional 113,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at $19,921,580.10. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,500 shares of company stock valued at $18,381,089 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $481.36 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 market cap of $68.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 160.45 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average is $518.53 and its 200-day moving average is $382.67. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $76.89 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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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