Perkins Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,100 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Perkins Capital Management cut its Ciena stake by 33% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,100 shares and leaving it with 6,300 shares worth about $1.47 million.
• Ciena posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates with $1.35 EPS on $1.43 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• Insider selling and analyst optimism both stood out: executives recently sold shares, but several firms raised price targets, and the stock carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target of $367.56.

Perkins Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,300 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Ciena comprises about 1.2% of Perkins Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Perkins Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CIEN opened at $577.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.66 billion, a PE ratio of 367.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day moving average is $440.39 and its 200 day moving average is $307.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $593.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,025,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.53, for a total value of $1,061,332.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 293,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,372,490.52. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.56.

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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