Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 811,950 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Ciena, buying 811,950 shares valued at about $189.9 million. The position represented roughly 0.58% of Ciena at the end of the reporting period.
• Wall Street sentiment on Ciena remains positive, with analysts giving the stock an overall “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $420.39. Recent calls included upgrades and higher targets, including JPMorgan lifting its target to $550.
• Ciena reported a strong quarter, posting $1.35 EPS versus the $1.17 consensus and revenue of $1.43 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The article also notes insider selling, including CEO Gary B. Smith’s sale of 2,952 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 811,950 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $189,891,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.58% of Ciena at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 42.5% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $420.39.

Ciena Trading Down 0.6%

CIEN opened at $623.07 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.77 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 396.86 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.92, for a total transaction of $1,670,595.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $19,502,359 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is 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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