Swedbank AB Purchases New Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Swedbank AB disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Ciena, buying 100,654 shares worth about $23.5 million. The position represented roughly 0.07% of the company at quarter-end.
• Insider selling has been notable, with SVP Brodie Gage and SVP Jason Phipps among those selling shares in recent months. Altogether, insiders sold 44,174 shares valued at about $18.9 million over the last ninety days.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on Ciena, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The company also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and strong year-over-year revenue growth.

Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 100,654 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,540,000. Swedbank AB owned about 0.07% of Ciena at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.65, for a total value of $684,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,074,931.65. This trade represents a 2.66% 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, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% 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 sold a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, 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 for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $398.83.

Ciena Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $583.65 on Tuesday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $70.77 and a 1 year high of $599.50. The firm has a market cap of $82.53 billion, a PE ratio of 371.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $483.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

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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