Panagora Asset Management Inc. Buys 88,385 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management sharply increased its Ciena stake in the fourth quarter, buying 88,385 additional shares and lifting its holdings by 1,581.1% to 93,975 shares worth about $21.98 million.
• Several major Wall Street firms raised their price targets on Ciena, with analysts maintaining a generally positive view and the stock carrying an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $530.56 target price.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates as revenue rose 39.5% year over year; however, insider selling has also been notable, including large sales by SVP Jason Phipps and Brodie Gage.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1,581.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,975 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 88,385 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ciena worth $21,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth $25,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Ciena from $470.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $530.56.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,222 shares of company stock worth $18,441,027 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $462.19 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $72.56 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.06 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $521.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 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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