Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Takes $408,000 Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Ciena by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total value of $519,588.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 398,549 shares in the company, valued at $30,453,129.09. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total value of $199,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 202,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,588 shares of company stock worth $3,950,907. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $79.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $44.69 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.15, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.39 and its 200 day moving average is $74.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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 upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.62.

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.