Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its Ciena stake by 107.6% in the first quarter, ending with 10,583 shares worth about $4.1 million.
• Ciena reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $1.64 EPS on $1.57 billion in revenue, with revenue up 39.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: Ciena has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with 13 Buy ratings and an average price target of $530.56.

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 107.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,583 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,484 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Ciena were worth $4,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 30,114.5% in 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. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $947,554,000 after buying an additional 1,404,132 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP bought a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $102,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $484.29 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $518.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $380.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.43 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $76.89 and a 12-month high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. The trade was a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,374 shares of company stock valued at $18,324,470 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Ciena from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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