Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,602,531 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 43,513 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.83% of Ciena worth $220,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 108.6% in the fourth 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. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total transaction of $577,048.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 412,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,974,964.14. The trade was a 1.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $172,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,283,645.60. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock valued at $3,299,980 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $59.51 on Wednesday. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $43.53 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.41, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.62.

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.

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