Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

by · The Cerbat Gem

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Free Report) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 182,577 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 430,284 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $42,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,747,810,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ciena by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Ciena by 10.4% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after buying an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth about $292,310,000. Finally, Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ciena by 48.5% in the third quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,983,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $288,864,000 after buying an additional 648,000 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. This represents a 1.07% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.83.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CIEN

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $587.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $473.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $326.32. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $70.77 and a 52 week high of $598.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.10 billion, a PE ratio of 374.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Ciena Profile

(Free Report)

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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