North Dakota State Investment Board Buys Shares of 5,628 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Ciena, buying 5,628 shares worth about $1.316 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 91.99% of Ciena’s stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, even as some insiders reduced their stakes.
• Ciena posted a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.35 and revenue of $1.43 billion, both beating expectations; analysts now have a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $398.83.

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,628 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,316,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Ciena by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 710 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,549 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Barclays raised 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. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.83.

Ciena Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $541.52 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.77 and a 12-month high of $598.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $463.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 344.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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