First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP Sells 45,200 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 53.1%, selling 45,200 shares and now holding 40,000 shares worth approximately $2.42 million.
• Ciena's most recent earnings report showed a 23.6% revenue increase year-over-year, with EPS of $0.42, missing analysts' expectations of $0.50.
• Share prices of Ciena are currently valued at $93.85, down 4.1%, while institutional investors hold nearly 92% of the stock.

First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP cut its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 53.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 45,200 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for about 0.9% of First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,593 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. GMT Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $569,000. Analog Century Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 33.0% during the first quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 841,311 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $50,840,000 after purchasing an additional 208,509 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $3,622,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $185,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total transaction of $187,162.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total transaction 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 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. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $78.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Two equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.08.

Ciena Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $95.14. 5,721,083 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,608,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 132.13, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.86.

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

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.