Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Lowers Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 10.9% during the second quarter, holding 234,239 shares valued at approximately $19 million.
• Insider selling was significant, with Director Bruce L. Claflin selling 8,461 shares and CEO Gary B. Smith selling 6,800 shares recently, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions.
• Analyst ratings for Ciena have improved, with several firms raising their price targets, and the stock now carries an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $122.86.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 234,239 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 28,734 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.17% of Ciena worth $19,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 516.6% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,719 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 15,683 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 322.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 34,035 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,912,000 after buying an additional 25,986 shares in the last quarter. Connective Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth $651,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in Ciena in the second quarter worth $180,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter valued at $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $926,160.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,357 shares in the company, valued at $40,636,223.40. This represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,186 shares of company stock worth $4,787,846 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.86.

Ciena Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $142.13 on Monday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $143.79. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.65. The company has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 146.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16.

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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