Cwm LLC Increases Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Cwm LLC has increased its stake in Ciena Corporation by 15.5%, owning a total of 25,949 shares valued at approximately $2.11 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $137.53 for Ciena's stock, with numerous upgrades driving positive ratings, including a recent upgrade by BNP Paribas to an "outperform" status with a target of $185.00.
• Ciena's stock showed a slight increase of 0.3% and was trading at $171.37, with analysts predicting earnings of $1.60 per share for the current fiscal year.

Cwm LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,949 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 3,491 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Ciena by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Ciena by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Ciena by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Ciena by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,593 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.53.

Ciena Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $171.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $125.66 and a 200 day moving average of $93.24. The firm has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.67, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $176.88.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.25, for a total transaction of $1,157,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,864,717.50. This trade represents a 2.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the sale, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,374 shares of company stock valued at $5,936,444 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company's Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.

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