Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 68.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,653 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 69,236 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.12% of Ciena worth $14,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,315 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 403,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $24,851,000 after buying an additional 18,426 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ciena by 925.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.62.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $64.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 340,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,509,567. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.73. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $44.69 and a 1 year high of $101.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total value of $577,048.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company'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 value 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 trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,299,980. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.