Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Invests $40.42 Million in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 656,196 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,416,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 549.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 151,747 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,346,000 after buying an additional 128,392 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,304,000. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 21,361 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $261,000. Finally, CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,748,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $67.22 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.63. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $42.20 and a one year high of $73.47.

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

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, 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 value of $236,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,485,797.71. This trade represents a 1.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at $5,604,752.01. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $568,123. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.