Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,316,640 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 139,941 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.78% of Ciena worth $1,299,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Ciena by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,439,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $273,427,000 after acquiring an additional 53,078 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $148,348,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,831 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,403,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,861,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock opened at $62.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.85. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $43.30 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total transaction of $478,046.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 109,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,300,073.92. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $1,436,843.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 59,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,042,121.12. This represents a 22.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,560 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,323. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.