Sei Investments Co. Sells 104,622 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. cut its Ciena stake by 42% in the first quarter, selling 104,622 shares and ending with 144,773 shares valued at about $56.2 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.64 versus expectations of $1.46 and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ciena, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56, though several insiders also sold shares recently.

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 42.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,773 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 104,622 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.10% of Ciena worth $56,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $1,193,300,000 after acquiring an additional 750,128 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 30,114.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $671,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN opened at $389.93 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $477.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a PE ratio of 129.98 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $84.41 and a 1 year high of $637.51.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at $119,498,203.38. The trade was a 1.14% 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 sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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