Sei Investments Co. Trims Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,006 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $13,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,711 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,132,000. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $2,149,000. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $5,828,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,897 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 13,600 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total value of $1,137,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 425,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,618,161.34. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 5,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.64, for a total transaction of $478,046.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 109,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,300,073.92. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,560 shares of company stock worth $5,406,323. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Trading Down 2.2 %

CIEN opened at $61.50 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $43.30 and a 12-month high of $101.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 107.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.92.

Ciena 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.