Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Atreides Management LP

Atreides Management LP decreased its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,219,211 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,373,107 shares during the period. Ciena makes up 3.5% of Atreides Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Atreides Management LP’s holdings in Ciena were worth $136,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,397,560 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $260,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943,146 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ciena by 7,767.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $94,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941,419 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 428.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 886,354 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $42,705,000 after purchasing an additional 718,551 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $40,416,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth $35,403,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. This represents a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,489 shares of company stock valued at $657,051 in the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas cut shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Ciena Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $69.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.47 and its 200-day moving average is $56.05. The stock has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.17, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $42.20 and a 52-week high of $73.47.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The business’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ciena Company 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.