Savant Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,379 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $5,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,088,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 103,199 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ciena by 10.4% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,795 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $284,313,000 after purchasing an additional 329,821 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $220,286,000 after purchasing an additional 702,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senvest Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,655,012 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $134,602,000 after purchasing an additional 182,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,746.52. The trade was a 47.59% 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 Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This trade represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 164,042 shares of company stock valued at $37,766,026 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $253.23 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $285.97. The firm has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. 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 50-day moving average of $232.85 and a 200-day moving average of $172.01.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $213.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

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.