Perpetual Ltd Sells 2,333 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 354,746 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,333 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Ciena were worth $30,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,861,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 428.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 886,354 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,705,000 after purchasing an additional 718,551 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,416,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,403,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ciena by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,308 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $130,392,000 after purchasing an additional 523,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $84.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 149.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $91.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.84.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 4.72%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley cut Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, January 10th. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,139.14. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total value of $311,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 192,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,194,102.73. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,781 shares of company stock worth $4,298,500 in the last 90 days. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.