Truist Financial Corp Has $2.24 Million Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its Ciena stake by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 9,559 shares valued at about $2.24 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with SVP Jason Phipps and SVP Brodie Gage both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders sold a total of 42,974 shares worth roughly $17.4 million over the last 90 days.
• Ciena reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $1.35 EPS on $1.43 billion in revenue, while analysts have mostly bullish views, with the consensus rating at Moderate Buy and an average target price of $367.56.

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,559 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 1,739 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Ciena by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,161 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 660,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $154,585,000 after buying an additional 410,588 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 222.7% in the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,712,000 after buying an additional 8,003 shares during the period. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $568,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total value of $566,148.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,297,072.39. This represents a 2.59% 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 have sold a total of 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2%

CIEN opened at $578.44 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $444.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a PE ratio of 368.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.77 and a twelve month high of $598.84.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CIEN. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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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