Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Reduces Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its Ciena stake by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving the firm with 5,557 shares valued at about $1.3 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, posting $1.64 EPS versus the $1.46 consensus and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year.
• Despite some insider selling and mixed analyst reactions, Wall Street remains generally positive on the stock, with 13 Buy ratings and an average price target of $530.56.

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 43.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,557 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 4,206 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $941,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ciena by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,102,409 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Ciena by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $284,313,000 after acquiring an additional 329,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,437 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $627,567,000 after acquiring an additional 145,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Down 7.0%

CIEN stock opened at $430.83 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $72.96 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $60.98 billion, a PE ratio of 143.61 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $521.41 and a 200 day moving average of $368.39.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,768,105. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 41,222 shares of company stock valued at $18,441,027 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.