Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $15.28 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 34.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,350 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,050 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Ciena were worth $15,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 19.8% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $95,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 27.1% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 370 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the first quarter worth about $3,244,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $12,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $739,599.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,992,499.76. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.36, for a total transaction of $56,619.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,081 shares in the company, valued at $57,105,118.16. This trade represents 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. Insiders have sold 17,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,872,766 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Ciena from $320.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ciena from $345.00 to $658.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $530.56.

Ciena Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE CIEN opened at $422.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.82 and a beta of 1.27. Ciena Corporation has a one year low of $76.89 and a one year high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $513.83 and its 200-day moving average is $389.62.

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