IFG Advisory LLC Makes New $597,000 Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• IFG Advisory LLC initiated a new position in Ciena, buying 2,551 shares valued at about $597,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Ciena has seen broad institutional interest, with hedge funds and other institutional investors now owning 91.99% of the stock; several firms recently increased their stakes significantly.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.35 and revenue of $1.43 billion, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $406.61.

IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,551 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ciena by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,726,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $154,585,000 after buying an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 222.7% during the 4th quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,712,000 after buying an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Ciena by 1,095.8% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 27,527 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,438,000 after buying an additional 25,225 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $580.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.80, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $70.77 and a 12 month high of $605.61. The firm's 50-day moving average is $500.69 and its 200 day moving average is $341.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CIEN. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $406.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total value of $1,226,585.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena 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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