Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Purchased by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 925.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 328 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Ciena were worth $28,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Ciena by 424.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 152.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 118.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 241.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,424 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $81.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $43.30 and a 1 year high of $91.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.56. The company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI cut Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their target price on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total value of $478,046.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 109,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,300,073.92. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 13,600 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $1,137,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 425,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,618,161.34. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,219 shares of company stock valued at $2,487,621. 0.83% of the stock is owned by 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.