Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New $5.67 Million Investment in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA opened a new position in Ciena, buying 14,605 shares worth about $5.67 million in the first quarter. Institutional ownership of the stock remains very high at 91.99%.
• Ciena’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with $1.64 EPS versus the $1.46 estimate and $1.57 billion in revenue, up 39.5% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn about 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with 13 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings, and a consensus price target of $530.56. However, insiders have recently sold shares, including CFO Marc D. Graff and SVP Brodie Gage, under pre-arranged trading plans.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,605 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,670,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.8% during the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Ciena by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.36, for a total value of $56,619.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $57,105,118.16. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total transaction of $559,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,500 shares of company stock valued at $18,381,089. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ciena from $285.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ciena from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Northland Securities set a $450.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Down 0.7%

CIEN opened at $481.36 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $76.89 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.14 billion, a PE ratio of 160.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company's 50-day moving average is $518.53 and its 200 day moving average is $381.48.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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