Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,594 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,303 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Ciena were worth $6,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total value of $1,131,013.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,344,769.04. The trade was a 17.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $14,283,645.60. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,588 shares of company stock worth $3,950,907. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $82.29 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.30. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $44.69 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.37, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.69.

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.