Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Purchased by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 195.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,062,883 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 3.26% of Ciena worth $392,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 151 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.62.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.54, for a total value of $404,872.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 375,680 shares in the company, valued at $22,367,987.20. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,299,980. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:CIEN traded up $1.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,600,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,456. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $44.69 and a 52-week high of $101.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.02 and a 200-day moving average of $73.82.

Ciena 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.