Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 464.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,698 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 65,569 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Ciena worth $6,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $421,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,071 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,056 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $543,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 362,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,926,571.20. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.67, for a total transaction of $27,534.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,637,150.11. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,588 shares of company stock valued at $3,950,907. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.92.

Ciena Stock Up 0.2%

CIEN stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.31. The stock had a trading volume of 705,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,905. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $44.69 and a one year high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company's 50 day moving average is $67.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.16. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11.

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.