LHM Inc. Makes New Investment in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

LHM Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,037 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $767,000. Ciena accounts for about 0.7% of LHM Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 849 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $59,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $101,000. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Ciena by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,450 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Ciena by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,274 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.20, for a total value of $501,586.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 407,342 shares in the company, valued at $24,521,988.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 8,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.20, for a total transaction of $501,586.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 407,342 shares in the company, valued at $24,521,988.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction of $174,020.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 237,001 shares in the company, valued at $11,783,689.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 107,533 shares of company stock valued at $5,808,540 in the last quarter. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock traded down $1.50 during midday trading 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 company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.99. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $39.94 and a 12 month high of $63.24. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $52.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.28.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 9.92% and a net margin of 5.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.