Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 33,014 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its Ciena stake by 74.9% in the first quarter, selling 33,014 shares and leaving it with 11,090 shares worth about $4.3 million.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.64 versus the $1.46 consensus and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Ciena, with an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56, while insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 74.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,090 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 33,014 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Ciena were worth $4,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 30,114.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $671,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,051,625 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $947,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth about $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,886 shares in the company, valued at $119,498,203.38. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,974,985. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Up 0.3%

Ciena stock opened at $446.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $504.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $401.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $80.83 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The company has a market capitalization of $63.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.99 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Ciena's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

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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