Sciencast Management LP Acquires New Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 25,336 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 549.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 151,747 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,346,000 after acquiring an additional 128,392 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 7.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,327 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 152.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in Ciena by 4.1% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 127,500 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,853,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $31,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total value of $443,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 391,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,534,199.82. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,742 shares of company stock valued at $5,469,173. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Ciena Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CIEN opened at $65.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.86, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.48. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $43.30 and a 1 year high of $101.44.

Ciena 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.