MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ribbon Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:RBBN)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ribbon Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:RBBN) by 83.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,005 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,434 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ribbon Communications were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RBBN. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ribbon Communications by 1,049.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 819,369 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after acquiring an additional 748,090 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ribbon Communications by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,314,669 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,269,000 after buying an additional 302,039 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ribbon Communications by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,402,073 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,793,000 after buying an additional 295,524 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Ribbon Communications by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,802,858 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $11,660,000 after acquiring an additional 266,580 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ribbon Communications by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 675,265 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 258,909 shares in the last quarter. 70.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RBBN. B. Riley lowered their price target on Ribbon Communications from $7.50 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Ribbon Communications in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ribbon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ribbon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.88.

Ribbon Communications Stock Performance

RBBN opened at $3.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $551.70 million, a PE ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Ribbon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $2.75 and a twelve month high of $5.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.96.

Ribbon Communications (NASDAQ:RBBN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.04). Ribbon Communications had a positive return on equity of 7.36% and a negative net margin of 6.50%. The company had revenue of $181.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ribbon Communications Inc. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ribbon Communications Company Profile

Ribbon Communications Inc provides communications technology in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Cloud and Edge, and IP Optical Networks. The Cloud and Edge segment provides software and hardware products, solutions, and services for voice over internet protocol communications, voice over long-term evolution, and voice over 5G communications, and unified communications and collaboration.