Schroder Investment Management Group Decreases Stock Holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,238,020 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 257,615 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Ciena were worth $105,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position 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 buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 328.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 409.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 520 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total transaction of $172,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 207,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,283,645.60. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,560 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,323 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock opened at $61.50 on Monday. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $101.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.90, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 3.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

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.