KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Raises Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Ciena by 94.6% in Q4, adding 27,900 shares to hold 57,400 shares valued at $13,424,000.
• Ciena beat Q4 estimates with $1.35 EPS vs $1.17 expected and $1.43B revenue (up 33.1% YoY), and the stock traded around $516 (up 3.4%) near its 12‑month high.
• Insiders sold 42,974 shares in the past three months (including the SVP's 22,014 and the CEO's 2,952 sales, executed under Rule 10b5‑1 plans), while institutional investors own about 91.99% of the company and insiders hold 0.58%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 94.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 27,900 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Ciena were worth $13,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Ciena by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 11.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Up 3.4%

CIEN opened at $516.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $395.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 328.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.01. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.42 and a 12 month high of $527.86.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value 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 $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% 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. Insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $16,615,505 in the last three months. 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.

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