Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Acquires New Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired 73,076 shares of Ciena Corporation, valued at approximately $5,943,000, making Ciena about 0.9% of their investment portfolio.
• Insider transactions include Director Bruce L. Claflin selling 8,461 shares for over $1.18 million, representing a 13.41% decrease in his holdings.
• Ciena has received several analyst upgrades, with target prices raised significantly, including a boost from $90.00 to $130.00 by Needham & Company LLC.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 73,076 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,943,000. Ciena accounts for about 0.9% of Stanley Laman Group Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of Ciena at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ciena by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Ciena by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Ciena by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Ciena by 65.6% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,593 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the business'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 sale, the director directly owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,914.88. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total transaction of $262,943.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,374 shares of company stock valued at $5,936,444. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $171.37 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $125.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.04. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $176.88. 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 company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 176.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.15.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.53.

Ciena Company 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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