2,852 Shares in Ciena Corporation $CIEN Purchased by Wedmont Private Capital

Key Points

• Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Ciena Corporation during the second quarter, purchasing 2,852 shares valued at approximately $226,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Ciena, with significant investments including Voya Investment Management, which grew its position by 116.7% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set price targets for Ciena, with Bank of America increasing its target from $135.00 to $155.00 and giving a "buy" rating, while the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,852 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 50.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Ciena by 66.7% in the 1st 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. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in Ciena by 9,162.5% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Ciena by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ciena from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $631,924.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,244.72. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,163. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $139.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,613,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,133,935. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $139.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The company has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.43, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.55.

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.