KBC Group NV Boosts Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 83.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,143 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,982 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ciena were worth $22,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 635.7% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 141 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.10, for a total value of $559,320.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,921,580.10. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $407.89 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $407.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $83.20 and a one year high of $637.51. The company has a market cap of $57.74 billion, a PE ratio of 135.96 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena 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.