Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,149 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 7,277 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $3,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth about $57,861,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,997,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,403,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,919,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 799,546 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $67,810,000 after purchasing an additional 143,350 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities raised shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price target (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk raised Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.38.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Dino Diperna sold 2,682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.64, for a total value of $235,050.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,607 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,197.48. The trade was a 5.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,742 shares of company stock valued at $5,469,173 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,964,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,907,546. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $43.30 and a 1-year high of $101.44.

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.