Boston Common Asset Management LLC Makes New $256,000 Investment in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,015 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $148,348,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,039,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,334,290,000 after buying an additional 108,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 119.6% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 239,389 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $14,744,000 after buying an additional 130,399 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:CIEN traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $84.96. 1,563,631 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,884,460. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.89. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $43.30 and a 52-week high of $91.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.40 and a 200-day moving average of $64.33.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. Ciena's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. BNP Paribas cut Ciena from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total transaction of $579,972.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,732,160.21. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total value of $311,815.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 192,997 shares in the company, valued at $17,194,102.73. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,781 shares of company stock worth $4,298,500. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

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.