UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 582,784 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,687 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $49,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,544 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Ciena by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $73.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.92.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.67, for a total value of $27,534.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,637,150.11. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $543,252.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 362,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,926,571.20. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,588 shares of company stock valued at $3,950,907 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 0.2%

CIEN opened at $80.31 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.00 and a 200 day moving average of $75.20. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 140.90, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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.