Ion Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Ion Asset Management cut its stake in Ciena by 82.5% in Q3, selling 999,340 shares and retaining 211,924 shares; the remaining position is roughly $30.87M and represents about 3.4% of Ion’s portfolio.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares at $354.64 (~$1.05M) and SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares at $247.89 (~$5.3M), with insiders disposing 147,131 shares (~$34.9M) in the last quarter.
• Ciena beat quarterly expectations with EPS $1.35 (vs. $1.17 est.) and revenue of $1.43B (+33.1% YoY); analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average target of $320.65 and the stock trading near its 12‑month high.

Ion Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 82.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 211,924 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 999,340 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises approximately 3.4% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Ion Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of Ciena worth $30,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.64, for a total value of $1,046,897.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,986,207.04. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total value of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 147,131 shares of company stock worth $34,898,686. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $337.50 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $284.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.30. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $365.90. The firm has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a PE ratio of 214.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Argus lifted their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Ciena in a research report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.65.

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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