100,654 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 100,654 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,540,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $1,231,000. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $4,482,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Ciena by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,693 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 507.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,243 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,545 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CIEN. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.83.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $583.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $82.53 billion, a PE ratio of 371.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $483.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.92. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.77 and a 12-month high of $599.50.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total value of $1,659,171.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ciena

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.