Stance Capital LLC Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Stance Capital LLC initiated a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter, buying 5,765 shares worth about $1.35 million.
• Ciena recently reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.64 and revenue of $1.57 billion, both topping analyst expectations; revenue rose 39.5% from a year earlier.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average target price of $530.56.

Stance Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,765 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,348,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ciena by 104.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $428.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.59 billion, a PE ratio of 142.67 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.55 and a 12 month high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Argus set a $650.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena 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, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,374 shares of company stock worth $20,349,470. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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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