Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Has $11.66 Million Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Orange Investment Advisors cut its Ciena stake by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 49,868 shares valued at about $11.66 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Ciena, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.83; several firms recently raised targets sharply, including Citigroup to $658.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.35 topping expectations and revenue of $1.43 billion, up 33.1% year over year.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 38.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,868 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 30,748 shares during the period. Ciena comprises about 1.3% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $11,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ciena by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $154,585,000 after acquiring an additional 410,588 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 222.7% during the 4th quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $568,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.83.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $587.69 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 fifty day simple moving average of $473.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $326.32. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $598.84. The company has a market capitalization of $83.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 374.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total transaction of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares in the company, valued at $25,074,931.65. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. This trade represents a 1.07% 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 have sold a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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