Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 185,916 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,169 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $15,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ciena by 925.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Ciena by 409.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 520 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 152.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN opened at $64.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of 112.77, 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $43.30 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total value of $1,436,843.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 59,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,042,121.12. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total value of $519,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 398,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,453,129.09. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,942 shares of company stock worth $5,025,949. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.