Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd Purchases New Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,060 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Ciena by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 1.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.5% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 47,085 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,829,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $247.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 291.02, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $261.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This trade represents a 19.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 167,890 shares of company stock valued at $38,277,035 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Argus raised their target price on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

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.