J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 17,987 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation by 10.4%, selling 17,987 shares and holding 155,071 shares valued at approximately $12.6 million.
• Major institutional investors, including Ion Asset Management and Nuveen LLC, have increased their positions in Ciena, reflecting a general trend of 91.99% institutional ownership in the company.
• Analysts have raised future price targets for Ciena, with Barclays setting a new target of $138, indicating a generally optimistic outlook for the stock.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,071 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 17,987 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned approximately 0.11% of Ciena worth $12,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ion Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 6.3% in the first quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,356,752 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $81,989,000 after acquiring an additional 80,426 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $70,065,000. Analog Century Management LP boosted its stake in Ciena by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 841,311 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $50,840,000 after purchasing an additional 208,509 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,221,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 0.4% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 813,979 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $66,242,000 after buying an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total transaction of $262,943.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 43,531 shares in the company, valued at $6,143,965.34. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total value of $46,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 42,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,665,176. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,336,431. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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 reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.86.

Ciena Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $152.81 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.70. The stock has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $153.61.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.