Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,525 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,756 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 11.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Up 7.5%

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $271.88 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $285.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $234.17 and a 200 day moving average of $173.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.29 billion, a PE ratio of 319.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.73.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CIEN. Argus increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Ciena from $175.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total value of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.