Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lessened its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 76.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,904 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 1,478,087 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.32% of Ciena worth $38,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ciena by 925.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $488,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 368,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,522,472. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $172,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,283,645.60. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,211,852 in the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Trading Up 1.0 %

CIEN stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.42. 1,710,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,022,204. The business's 50 day moving average price is $64.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of 128.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $44.69 and a 52-week high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CIEN shares. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.