Fruth Investment Management Takes $203,000 Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Fruth Investment Management acquired a new position in Ciena Corporation worth approximately $203,000 by purchasing 2,500 shares in the second quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own a significant portion of Ciena's stock, with 91.99% of shares held collectively by these investors.
• Recent analyst ratings have been largely positive, with price targets raised by multiple firms, including Bank of America and JPMorgan, indicating a growing confidence in Ciena's market performance.

Fruth Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,500 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,556 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter valued at $513,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Ciena by 1,883.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,266 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $64,028,000 after purchasing an additional 747,576 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 250,289 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $20,356,000 after buying an additional 18,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth about $180,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $127.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ciena from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Ciena Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $139.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,613,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,373,840. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.81 and a 200 day moving average of $81.06. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.43, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $139.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total transaction of $46,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,665,176. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,163 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

About Ciena

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.