Bank of America Corp DE Sells 209,815 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,954,632 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 209,815 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.38% of Ciena worth $758,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Harbor Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $1,507,000. Regal Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $1,165,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,022,000 after buying an additional 4,338 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Ciena by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 103,914 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. bought a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,956,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. 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 Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,675 shares of company stock worth $9,387,576. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Citigroup upped their target price on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $450.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $377.33 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.52. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.41 and a 1-year high of $637.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.41 billion, a PE ratio of 125.78 and a beta of 1.27.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ciena

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.