Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd Invests $737,000 in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,060 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at $1,993,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth about $253,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ciena by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after acquiring an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 6.5%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $247.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $34.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 291.02, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $223.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.60. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 167,890 shares of company stock worth $38,277,035 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CIEN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

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.