Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $67.99 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group boosted its stake in Ciena by 1,279% in Q4 to 290,727 shares, owning roughly 0.21% of the company valued at about $67.99 million at quarter-end.
• Institutional interest is high—91.99% ownership—with large moves including Lone Pine's new $292.3 million position and JPMorgan owning 6.46 million shares (~$941.5 million) after adding 1.22 million shares.
• Analysts are broadly positive (consensus "Moderate Buy," $327.12 target) after Ciena beat Q earnings expectations (EPS $1.35 vs. $1.17) and reported revenue up 33.1% year-over-year, while several firms raised price targets (e.g., Stifel $430, JPMorgan $380).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1,279.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 290,727 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 269,644 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Ciena worth $67,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter worth about $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Ciena by 2,174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $166,625,000 after buying an additional 1,093,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3,577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $83,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,323 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.12.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $467.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $66.06 billion, a PE ratio of 297.58, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.01. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.94 and a 12-month high of $513.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. The trade was a 1.04% 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 66,150 shares of company stock valued at $22,091,206 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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