KBC Group NV Increases Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its stake in Ciena by 83.4% in the first quarter, buying an additional 25,982 shares and bringing its total holdings to 57,143 shares worth about $22.2 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 beating estimates and revenue rising 39.5% year over year to $1.57 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock: Ciena has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, and several firms have recently raised price targets, including Rosenblatt to $720.

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 83.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,143 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 25,982 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Ciena were worth $22,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 445,359 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $104,156,000 after purchasing an additional 155,712 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 164.0% during the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $154,585,000 after buying an additional 410,588 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth $3,244,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $160,468,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1,095.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. This trade represents a 3.57% 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. Insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 7.7%

NYSE CIEN opened at $407.89 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.20 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $57.74 billion, a PE ratio of 135.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $487.72 and a 200 day moving average of $407.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

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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