Guggenheim Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Guggenheim Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 86.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,876 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 79,974 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $421,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $755,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 38,350 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,684 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CIEN. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.62.

Ciena Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE:CIEN opened at $59.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $43.53 and a 52-week high of $101.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $67.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total transaction of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,258 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,344,769.04. This represents a 17.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.54, for a total transaction of $404,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 375,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,367,987.20. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,288 shares of company stock valued at $3,299,980 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

About Ciena

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.

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