First Business Financial Services Inc. Has $2.25 Million Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Ciena Corporation by 13.9% in Q2, owning 27,680 shares valued at $2.25 million.
• Ciena's stock opened at $172.31, significantly above its 12-month low of $49.21 and close to its high of $177.79, indicating strong market performance.
• Analysts have generally upgraded their ratings for Ciena, with targets ranging from $120 to $185, reflecting positive sentiment and strong expectations for future performance.

First Business Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,680 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 3,379 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Ciena by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,885 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Ciena by 8.9% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 13,944 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Ciena by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,600 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Ciena in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,553,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $220,286,000 after buying an additional 702,909 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $172.31 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.73 and a 200-day moving average of $96.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $177.79. The firm has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 177.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.15.

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 business had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.25, for a total value of $1,157,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 275,270 shares in the company, valued at $46,864,717.50. The trade was a 2.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total value of $1,185,555.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,914.88. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,374 shares of company stock worth $5,936,444. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on Ciena and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.53.

Ciena 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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