Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,828 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 135,509 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,099,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Ciena by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 346,064 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,576,000 after purchasing an additional 63,000 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Ciena by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 373,399 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,807,000 after purchasing an additional 64,215 shares in the last quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,345 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 419,220 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,869,000 after purchasing an additional 99,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $473,757.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,635,223.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.80, for a total transaction of $186,636.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,109 shares in the company, valued at $17,252,883.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $473,757.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares in the company, valued at $23,635,223.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,189 shares of company stock valued at $5,754,880 in the last quarter. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE CIEN opened at $44.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $63.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.20.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CIEN. Citigroup began coverage on Ciena in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.79.

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.