PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services increased its Ciena stake by 32.2% in the first quarter, reaching 17,826 shares valued at approximately $6.9 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 91.99% of Ciena.
• Ciena exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.64 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $1.46 estimate and $1.57 billion in revenue, up 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Ciena carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $530.56, although insiders sold about $11.0 million of stock over the past three months.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 32.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,826 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 4,337 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,193,300,000 after buying an additional 750,128 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $947,554,000 after buying an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $284,313,000 after buying an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $671,365,000 after buying an additional 2,861,176 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 43,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares in the company, valued at $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $389.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.98 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $477.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $410.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $84.41 and a 12 month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ciena

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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