Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 3,062,883 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 195.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,062,883 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 3.26% of Ciena worth $392,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Global Management UK Ltd now owns 268,640 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $22,783,000 after buying an additional 119,762 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Ciena by 321.6% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,426 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 14,818 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 107,222 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,956 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 6,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 21,114 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.62.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $172,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,283,645.60. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.86, for a total transaction of $577,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 412,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,974,964.14. This trade represents a 1.62 % 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 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Ciena Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE CIEN traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 405,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,007,988. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $44.69 and a one year high of $101.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

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.