Regal Partners Ltd Acquires Shares of 3,000 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Regal Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,338 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ciena by 3.4% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 103,914 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,343,000 after purchasing an additional 3,429 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in Ciena in the first quarter valued at about $1,956,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, Sona Asset Management US LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth about $1,553,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,498,203.38. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,872 shares in the company, valued at $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% 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 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective on the stock. Northland Securities set a $450.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $350.05 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a PE ratio of 116.68 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $84.41 and a 12-month high of $637.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $470.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.04.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share 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.