Bienville Capital Management LLC Sells 99,341 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Bienville Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 86.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,967 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 99,341 shares during the quarter. Bienville Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Ciena by 925.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total value of $519,588.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 398,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,453,129.09. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,211,852 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.62.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 426,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,497. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.34 and a 200-day moving average of $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $44.69 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11.

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.