California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 221,681 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 15,807 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Ciena worth $18,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ciena by 925.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 328 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Ciena by 409.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 520 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN traded up $8.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.03. 3,358,124 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,962. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $43.30 and a 52-week 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.05. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.83, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,344,769.04. The trade was a 17.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total transaction of $30,068.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,256,582.77. This trade represents a 0.70 % 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 $3,484,670. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Northland Securities raised Ciena from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.38.

Ciena Company 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.