Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 35,917 Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,917 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,617,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 0.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 28,651 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,204 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Ciena by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 36,296 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,753,752 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $106,335,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 19,106 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 70,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total value of $3,833,044.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 424,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,942,964.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 4,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $210,632.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 494,844 shares in the company, valued at $25,019,312.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 70,838 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.11, for a total transaction of $3,833,044.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,942,964.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,533 shares of company stock worth $5,808,540. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock traded down $1.50 on Friday, reaching $45.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,121,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,529,785. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.94 and a fifty-two week high of $63.24. The business's 50-day moving average price is $52.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.29.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ciena from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday. They issued a "sell" rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.79.

Ciena 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.