ABN Amro Investment Solutions Invests $3.37 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 41,381 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,366,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Ciena by 107.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 15.4% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 65.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,593 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 544 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $631,924.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares in the company, valued at $28,358,240.01. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 54,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,914.88. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 51,824 shares of company stock worth $8,008,263 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ciena from $120.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $153.20.

Ciena Stock Down 7.2%

CIEN stock opened at $194.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The company has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 200.34, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $214.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.73 and a 200-day moving average of $110.32.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.