Florida Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Florida Financial Advisors LLC initiated a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter, buying 5,478 shares valued at about $1.28 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with SVP Jason Phipps and CEO Gary B. Smith both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold 41,222 shares worth about $17.8 million over the last 90 days.
• Ciena reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.35 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $1.43 billion, while analysts remain mostly constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus.

Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,478 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,279,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total value of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $17,831,763. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $580.59 on Monday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $605.61. The firm's 50-day moving average is $500.69 and its 200 day moving average is $342.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market cap of $82.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.80 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $406.61.

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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