TKG Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• TKG Advisors LLC opened a new position in Ciena during the first quarter, buying 8,356 shares worth about $3.24 million. The stake makes up 1.3% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Ciena reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.64 versus estimates of $1.46 and revenue of $1.57 billion, up 39.5% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 5.4 EPS for the current year.
• Despite the positive earnings and multiple higher price targets from analysts, Ciena shares were down 5.9% and insider selling continued, including sales by CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Brodie Gage.

TKG Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,244,000. Ciena accounts for 1.3% of TKG Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $2,747,810,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 30,114.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,870,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $671,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,176 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,310,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 53.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,705,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% 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. Insiders sold a total of 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Down 5.9%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $461.48 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $76.89 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The business's fifty day moving average is $517.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $387.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $65.32 billion, a PE ratio of 153.83 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 7.87%.The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.56.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.