Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Penserra Capital Management LLC

Penserra Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,359 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 157,590 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Ciena by 1,944.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,062,394 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,513 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth $222,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Ciena by 372.8% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,744 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 28,972 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in Ciena by 4.0% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 21,776 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 1st quarter worth $3,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $70.13 on Tuesday. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.20 and a fifty-two week high of $73.47. The company has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of 74.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06.

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

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $236,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares in the company, valued at $13,485,797.71. The trade was a 1.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. BNP Paribas cut shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI lowered Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.