Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Invests $6.93 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,690 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,933,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 635.7% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $372.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $405.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ciena from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $1,383,986.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,498,203.38. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,186,421. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,627 shares of company stock worth $10,974,985. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN opened at $406.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $480.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $409.42. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $84.41 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $57.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current 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.