Alpine Investment Management Ltd Makes New $12.72 Million Investment in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Alpine Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 150,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,722,000. Ciena makes up approximately 3.6% of Alpine Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Alpine Investment Management Ltd owned 0.11% of Ciena as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Ciena by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,344,769.04. This trade represents a 17.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total transaction of $579,972.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,732,160.21. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,200 shares of company stock valued at $4,921,513. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CIEN. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

Ciena Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $53.53 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $43.30 and a 1 year high of $101.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.40 and its 200-day moving average is $74.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 93.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

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.