1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,075 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 683 shares during the quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ciena by 925.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Ciena by 409.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Ciena by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $65.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 115.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $43.30 and a 52-week high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.18, for a total value of $443,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 391,749 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,742 shares of company stock valued at $5,469,173. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

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.