Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 443,333 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 6,079 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.31% of Ciena worth $37,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ciena by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $148,348,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $245,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $421,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $755,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total value of $579,972.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 418,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,732,160.21. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,484,670. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.38.

Ciena Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of CIEN traded down $3.59 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $58.40. The stock had a trading volume of 305,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,010,344. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.05. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

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.