Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 140,341 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Stephens Investment Management Group cut its Ciena stake by 45.8% in the first quarter, selling 140,341 shares and leaving it with 166,171 shares valued at about $64.5 million.
• Ciena recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.64 EPS on $1.57 billion in revenue, with revenue up 39.5% from a year earlier.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Ciena, with 13 Buy ratings, 7 Hold ratings, and an average consensus price target of $530.56 after multiple firms raised targets sharply.

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC reduced its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 45.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,171 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 140,341 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Ciena worth $64,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN opened at $422.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $513.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $389.62. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $76.89 and a 12-month high of $637.51. 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 capitalization of $59.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.82 and a beta of 1.27.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.Ciena's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CIEN. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Thirteen 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,992,499.76. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $153,163,683.45. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Company 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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