Estate Counselors LLC Purchases Shares of 18,798 Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,798 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,396,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 240,025.0% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 57,630 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,478,000 after acquiring an additional 57,606 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,585 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2,058.8% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 36,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFC Planning Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $358.94.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares in the company, valued at $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total value of $566,148.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,297,072.39. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 40,022 shares of company stock worth $15,831,454 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/industry bullishness: Seeking Alpha highlights a surging backlog (now ~$7B) and accelerating backlog-to-cash conversion that supports revenue and cash-flow growth, arguing CIEN is well positioned for hyperscaler AI demand. Ciena Corp.: Buy As Backlog To Cash Is Rolling
• Positive Sentiment: Sector buy call: Zacks includes CIEN among communication-component stocks to tap the rally from 5G, fiber and AI tailwinds, reinforcing investor interest in the group. Buy 2 Communication Component Stocks to Tap Recent Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage sentiment and momentum: Broker consensus is around “Moderate Buy” and the stock recently hit a record high on the NYSE Composite, signaling strong market momentum and institutional interest. Ciena Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” Ciena Hits Record High
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/company-news signal: Coverage of Lumentum’s upcoming Q3 frames broad industry demand for optics and AI-driven revenue growth — a positive sector signal for Ciena but not direct company news. Lumentum Q3 Earnings Loom
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/flow context: Mentions of CIEN in mid-cap/smart-beta ETF coverage may support passive demand but are a secondary factor vs. direct earnings/backlog news. Is FNX a Strong ETF Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Celebrity pundit caution: Jim Cramer publicly said CIEN is “a little too hot” and that he’d “hold off,” which can sap conviction among retail traders and short-term momentum despite strong fundamentals. Jim Cramer on Ciena Jim Cramer on Ciena: “I’m Going to Have to Hold Off”

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $536.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.83 billion, a PE ratio of 341.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.24. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $70.67 and a 12 month high of $550.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $414.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.