Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 22,822 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management increased its Ciena stake by 344% in the fourth quarter, buying 22,822 additional shares and bringing its total position to 29,457 shares valued at about $6.89 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Brodie Gage both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold 42,974 shares worth $17.4 million over the past 90 days.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $367.56.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 344.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,457 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 22,822 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Ciena were worth $6,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,093,557 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Ciena by 3,577.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $83,965,000 after buying an additional 1,004,323 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,408.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $148,126,398.14. This represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total transaction of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at $21,297,072.39. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $17,418,863 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $578.44 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $444.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $310.56. The company has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 368.44, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.77 and a fifty-two week high of $598.84.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $367.56.

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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