Geneva Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 10,328 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake of 10,328 shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) in Q4, valued at about $2.415 million.
• Several analysts lifted price targets and ratings recently — including Needham to $370 and Rosenblatt to $350 (both "buy") — resulting in a consensus of Moderate Buy and an average target of $367.56.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares (~$9.02M) and CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares (~$1.59M), with insiders offloading 42,974 shares worth $17.4M in the last quarter.

Geneva Partners LLC purchased 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 & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,415,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Ciena by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 11.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.56.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,408.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,126,398.14. This trade represents a 1.06% 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 a total of 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Down 7.0%

NYSE CIEN opened at $536.34 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $583.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $427.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.27. The stock has a market cap of $75.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 341.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The business's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 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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