Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 971.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 661,630 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.51% of Ciena worth $61,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 77.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE CIEN traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.22. 1,271,816 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,030,765. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.49, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $44.69 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.40 and a 200-day moving average of $74.56.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total transaction of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,138 shares of company stock valued at $3,439,211. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CIEN. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.62.

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.