Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) is North Growth Management Ltd.’s 3rd Largest Position

North Growth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 531,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for about 6.2% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $32,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena during the first quarter valued at about $442,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter worth approximately $340,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Ciena by 3.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 152,529 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,011,000 after acquiring an additional 5,351 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at $11,552,877.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $196,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $568,123 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Trading Up 0.2 %

CIEN opened at $72.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 76.64, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.49 and a 200-day moving average of $54.03. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $42.20 and a 52 week high of $73.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.31 million. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BNP Paribas cut Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.