Select Equity Group L.P. Invests $4.35 Million in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 71,942 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,347,000. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 0.05% of Ciena at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $70,065,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its holdings in Ciena by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $183,987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,260 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ciena by 971.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $61,891,000 after acquiring an additional 661,630 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,973,000. Finally, Analog Century Management LP boosted its holdings in Ciena by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 841,311 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $50,840,000 after acquiring an additional 208,509 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total transaction of $559,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,770,552.11. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total value of $31,829.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,934,791.92. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN traded down $1.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.15. 2,778,000 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,736,332. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.20, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.16. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $134.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.32.

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.