Ciena Corporation $CIEN Holdings Lifted by Perpetual Ltd

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in Ciena Corporation by 8.1% during Q2, bringing its total stake to approximately $20.36 million with 250,289 shares owned.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Gary B. Smith selling 6,800 shares valued at $926,160, which decreased his ownership in the company, highlighting ongoing insider selling trends.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Ciena, with Barclays setting a new target of $138.00 and a majority of ratings suggesting a "Moderate Buy" sentiment among analysts.

Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,289 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,803 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.18% of Ciena worth $20,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Ciena during the second quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 5.5% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,126 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $66,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Connective Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $651,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.46.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $140.19. The stock had a trading volume of 807,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,364,649. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.55. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $140.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 144.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,665,176. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $631,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,163 in the last quarter. Company 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.