Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 279 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 328.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 3.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,897 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Ciena by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,469 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total value of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,344,769.04. This represents a 17.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,200 shares of company stock valued at $4,921,513. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Ciena from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.38.

Ciena Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $53.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena Co. has a 12-month low of $43.30 and a 12-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 50-day simple moving average of $75.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.08.

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.