Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,930 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,132,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,407 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,439,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $273,427,000 after purchasing an additional 53,078 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $148,348,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,831 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,403,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,861,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Dino Diperna sold 2,682 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,435,197.48. This represents a 5.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,742 shares of company stock valued at $5,469,173. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 0.2 %

CIEN stock opened at $65.47 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.30 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.86, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.