Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Purchases 2,420 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,082 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,420 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 14,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ciena by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 9,774 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 3.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,321 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Ciena by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 65,144 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $26,442.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,052,464.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $473,757.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,635,223.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total value of $26,442.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,464.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,189 shares of company stock valued at $5,754,880. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $45.68. 2,367,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,006,549. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.29. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $39.94 and a 12-month high of $63.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.99.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.18. Ciena had a return on equity of 9.92% and a net margin of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.79.

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.