Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 220,696 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 9,678 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.16% of Ciena worth $18,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CIEN. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of 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. reduced 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research 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, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.67, for a total transaction of $27,534.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,637,150.11. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $172,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares in the company, valued at $14,283,645.60. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,588 shares of company stock worth $3,950,907. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.32. 109,971 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,021,989. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.69 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 142.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.87.

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.