Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 17,790 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp significantly reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 82.4%, selling 17,790 shares and leaving it with 3,794 shares valued at approximately $229,000.
• Ciena reported earnings per share of $0.42 for the last quarter, which missed estimates by $0.08, despite a 23.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Several brokerages have adjusted their price targets for Ciena, with Bank of America raising theirs from $95.00 to $135.00 and giving the stock a "buy" rating.

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 82.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,794 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 17,790 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Ciena were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 50.8% in the 1st quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 28,079 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 9,456 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth about $1,709,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,109 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Ciena by 322.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 34,035 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 25,986 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Ciena by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 596,830 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,066,000 after buying an additional 139,926 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ciena from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of Ciena 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 directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $2.86 on Thursday, reaching $132.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,381,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,874. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $134.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a PE ratio of 136.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.14.

Ciena 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.