Providence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,154 shares during the quarter. Ciena makes up 1.4% of Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $7,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 925.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ciena by 328.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Ciena by 409.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 520 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CIEN. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total transaction of $443,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 391,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,534,199.82. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $30,068.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,256,582.77. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,560 shares of company stock worth $5,406,323. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $62.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $43.30 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.85.

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.