California Public Employees Retirement System Has $18.80 Million Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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 filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,236,920 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $444,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,447 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 4,484.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 529,555 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,912,000 after buying an additional 518,003 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,382,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Ciena by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 21,862 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,625,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 49,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,256,582.77. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,200 shares of company stock valued at $4,921,513. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Down 4.7 %

CIEN stock opened at $53.53 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $43.30 and a twelve month high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 93.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Northland Capmk raised shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on Ciena and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.