EntryPoint Capital LLC Takes $404,000 Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,769 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $404,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ciena during the third quarter worth about $57,861,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,997,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,919,000. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Ciena by 263.7% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 463,680 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,325,000 after acquiring an additional 336,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Ciena by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 799,546 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $67,810,000 after acquiring an additional 143,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’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 transaction of $443,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 391,749 shares in the company, valued at $25,534,199.82. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,742 shares of company stock worth $5,469,173. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

Ciena Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $69.23 on Wednesday. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $43.30 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.98. The company has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 121.46, a P/E/G 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.

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.