Savant Capital LLC Has $690,000 Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Savant Capital LLC cut its Ciena stake by 92.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 2,949 shares worth about $690,000.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Ciena, with several analysts raising price targets; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $420.39.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while insiders have recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Savant Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 92.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,949 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 36,205 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $420.39.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $19,502,359 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $623.07 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $70.77 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.10 billion, a PE ratio of 396.86 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average is $512.98 and its 200-day moving average is $351.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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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