Oak Thistle LLC Boosts Holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)

Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 57.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,012 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ciena by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Ciena by 66.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $88.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,334,262. Ciena Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.89 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $79.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.53 billion, a PE ratio of 123.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.11.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $28,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,601,538.26. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 2,044 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.64, for a total value of $166,872.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,853,244.72. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,269 shares of company stock valued at $3,306,811. Company 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.