AIA Group Ltd Sells 1,378 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

AIA Group Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,995 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,378 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Ciena were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $148,348,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $887,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $421,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at $755,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ciena from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 2,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $31,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,601.52. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,560 shares of company stock worth $5,406,323 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $61.53 on Wednesday. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.30 and a fifty-two week high of $101.44. 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 market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.96, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.29.

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.