Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Stake Increased by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,382 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,260 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $2,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 925.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 328.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total value of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares in the company, valued at $5,344,769.04. This represents a 17.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $488,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 368,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,522,472. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,288 shares of company stock worth $3,211,852. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Barclays set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.62.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $72.84. 867,197 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,018,369. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $64.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.94. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $44.69 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

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.