Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,227,020 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 49,996 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 2.27% of Ciena worth $273,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $245,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Ciena by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $421,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $755,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 38,350 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 5,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.62.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total transaction of $519,588.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 398,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,453,129.09. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock valued at $3,211,852. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.90. 429,338 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,391,510. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.93, 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $64.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

About Ciena

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.