Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases Shares of 14,605 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Ciena, buying 14,605 shares worth about $3.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with large investors such as KBC Group and FengHe Fund Management also increasing or initiating positions in the communications equipment maker.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Ciena, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $367.56 average price target, while the company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,605 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,416,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of 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 bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 410,588 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 222.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total value of $1,587,408.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,126,398.14. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CIEN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.56.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $578.44 on Thursday. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $444.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $310.56. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $598.84. The company has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 368.44, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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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