Creative Planning Raises Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,034 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter worth $70,065,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $100,499,000 after buying an additional 975,792 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth about $49,221,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1,883.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 787,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $64,028,000 after buying an additional 747,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $220,286,000 after buying an additional 702,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $200.33 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $214.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $172.61 and its 200 day moving average is $118.02. The company has a market cap of $28.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.53, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $59,276.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,884,992.08. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $631,924.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,935 shares of company stock worth $8,029,442. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ciena from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.20.

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.