Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 18,177 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,882 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 18,177 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 424.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Ciena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ciena by 152.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Ciena by 118.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. This represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 28th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI cut Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $70.13 on Friday. Ciena Co. has a 12 month low of $42.20 and a 12 month high of $73.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.32.

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

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.