Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its Ciena stake by 69.9% in the second quarter, owning 75,043 shares valued at approximately $36.8 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 91.99% of the company.
• Ciena insiders sold 21,627 shares worth about $10.5 million over the past three months, including sales by the CEO and CFO under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $530.56. Ciena recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.64 EPS and $1.57 billion in revenue, up 39.5% year over year.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 69.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,043 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,881 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.05% of Ciena worth $36,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ciena by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 2,100.0% in the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 635.7% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,186,421. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $1,121,199.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 248,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $94,565,853.42. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,508,776 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Ciena from $350.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Down 0.1%

CIEN opened at $387.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.13 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50 day moving average is $431.24 and its 200-day moving average is $422.62. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $84.41 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena Profile

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.

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