SWS Partners Has $2.89 Million Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

SWS Partners lessened its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 33.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,859 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,897 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in Ciena were worth $2,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 2.9% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,693 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.3% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,353 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total value of $1,309,748.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,870 shares in the company, valued at $49,090,510.70. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 550 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.84, for a total transaction of $121,462.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,992 shares in the company, valued at $8,831,833.28. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,549 shares of company stock valued at $8,614,156. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $241.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 284.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $248.00.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

Ciena Company 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.