Becker Capital Management Inc. Has $20.99 Million Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Becker Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,488 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 51,309 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Ciena worth $20,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 925.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 1.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock valued at $3,299,980 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CIEN shares. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.62.

Ciena Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CIEN opened at $67.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $44.69 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a PE ratio of 118.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $65.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.76.

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.

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