Intech Investment Management LLC Has $32.17 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management boosted its Ciena stake by 93% in the fourth quarter, ending with 137,564 shares valued at about $32.17 million.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.35 versus $1.17 expected and revenue of $1.43 billion, up 33.1% from a year ago.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: Ciena has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $404.94, even as some executives have sold shares recently.

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 93.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,564 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 66,298 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Ciena worth $32,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CIEN. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $404.94.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $569.20 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $496.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.05. The company has a market cap of $80.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.55, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $605.61.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.