Pinebridge Investments L.P. Grows Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 47,105 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,093 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 73.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN traded up $4.66 on Thursday, hitting $71.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,326,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,010,133. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $64.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.72. The firm has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $44.69 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price target (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 375,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,367,987.20. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,435,601.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.