ThornTree Capital Partners LP Sells 178,503 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• ThornTree Capital Partners LP reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 29.2% during Q1, owning 433,489 shares after selling 178,503 shares.
• Ciena reported $1.13 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, but missed earnings per share expectations at $0.42 compared to a consensus of $0.50.
• Recent analyst updates include Bank of America raising its price target for Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating, while the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $114.32.

ThornTree Capital Partners LP lessened its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 29.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 433,489 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 178,503 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises about 5.8% of ThornTree Capital Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. ThornTree Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.30% of Ciena worth $26,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Ciena by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Ciena by 0.5% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,910 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,649 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total value of $559,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,770,552.11. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,326,705. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research raised Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.32.

Ciena Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Ciena stock traded down $2.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $130.35. 1,305,739 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,346,989. The company has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $92.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.21 and a 52 week high of $134.31.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.