Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Makes New $2.12 Million Investment in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP purchased a new position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 25,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Up 1.9 %

CIEN opened at $72.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.76, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $44.69 and a one year high of $101.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.79. 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

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $31,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total value of $577,048.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 412,149 shares in the company, valued at $34,974,964.14. This trade represents a 1.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,288 shares of company stock valued at $3,299,980 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ciena

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.