Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Bought by 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC

12th Street Asset Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,133 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 69,876 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for about 4.3% of 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC owned 0.22% of Ciena worth $26,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,672,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $43.30 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total transaction of $519,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 398,549 shares in the company, valued at $30,453,129.09. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total value of $478,046.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 109,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,300,073.92. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,942 shares of company stock valued at $5,025,949 over the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.38.

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.