Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 76.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,139 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,440 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ciena by 195.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $392,345,000 after buying an additional 3,062,883 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 4,215.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 899,828 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $76,314,000 after acquiring an additional 878,979 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,997,000. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,341,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Ciena by 4,484.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 529,555 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $44,912,000 after purchasing an additional 518,003 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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 Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $100.00 price objective on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $199,825.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 202,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,175,434.10. This trade represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,138 shares of company stock valued at $3,439,211. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN traded up $1.42 on Friday, hitting $81.22. 1,271,816 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,025,856. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. 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. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.45.

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.