Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 31,098 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,825 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 31,098 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Ciena worth $124,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 4.9% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,648 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $16,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Cvfg LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth $5,363,000. Flatrock Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $1,945,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 18,145 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 22,827 shares of company stock worth $11,541,133 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $461.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,282,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,926,307. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $76.89 and a 1-year high of $637.51. The company has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.71 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $508.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $397.63.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Argus set a $650.00 price target on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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