Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 44,060 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management sharply increased its stake in Ciena, buying 44,060 additional shares in Q4 and raising its holdings to 44,900 shares valued at about $10.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Ciena remains broadly positive, with multiple analysts lifting price targets and the stock carrying an average Moderate Buy rating and $420.39 average target price.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, topping earnings and revenue estimates, while the company’s shares have surged to near their 52-week high of $629.61 amid recent insider selling activity.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 5,245.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,900 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 44,060 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $10,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $420.39.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.92, for a total value of $1,670,595.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $152,547,697.44. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 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 approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% 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 a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $19,502,359 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 10.4%

CIEN stock opened at $628.98 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $503.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $345.22. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $629.61. 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 company has a market cap of $88.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 400.63 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena 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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