Shelton Capital Management Lowers Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Shelton Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,423 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Ciena were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,997,000. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. acquired a new position in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,341,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Ciena by 4,484.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 529,555 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,912,000 after purchasing an additional 518,003 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $40,919,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Ciena by 263.7% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 463,680 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,325,000 after purchasing an additional 336,180 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $62.03 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.05. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.83, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $172,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares in the company, valued at $14,283,645.60. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total value of $30,068.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,256,582.77. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,484,670. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Company 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.