Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,732 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,534 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Ciena by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Ciena by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ciena by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,469 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,914 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Dino Diperna sold 2,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.64, for a total transaction of $235,050.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,607 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,197.48. The trade was a 5.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total transaction of $478,046.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 109,878 shares in the company, valued at $9,300,073.92. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,442 shares of company stock worth $5,337,764. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $63.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.31. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $43.30 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.00, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). Ciena had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 4.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Ciena’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

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.