Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 12,303 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,594 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,303 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.05% of Ciena worth $6,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 356 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ciena by 328.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 420 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target 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. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ciena from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.69.

Ciena Stock Up 2.6%

Ciena stock opened at $82.29 on Wednesday. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $44.69 and a 1-year high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.37, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.30.

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 value of $172,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 207,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,283,645.60. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total transaction of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,344,769.04. This represents a 17.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,588 shares of company stock worth $3,950,907. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.