Marshall Wace LLP Boosts Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 4,215.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 899,828 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 878,979 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.63% of Ciena worth $76,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CIEN. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 32.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,715 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,988 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,315 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Ciena by 4.8% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 403,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $24,851,000 after acquiring an additional 18,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Ciena by 925.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.08. 240,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,009,405. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $68.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.91. 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 one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 103.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $88.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.69.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.54, for a total value of $404,872.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 375,680 shares in the company, valued at $22,367,987.20. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total transaction of $1,131,013.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,344,769.04. This trade represents a 17.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,299,980 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.