Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 799,546 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 143,350 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.56% of Ciena worth $67,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $148,348,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth approximately $245,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the fourth quarter worth $421,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,988,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Ciena by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,334,290,000 after buying an additional 108,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.63. 1,843,514 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,540,858. The company's 50-day moving average is $85.09 and its 200 day moving average is $69.39. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $43.30 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 155.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Dino Diperna sold 2,682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.64, for a total value of $235,050.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,607 shares in the company, valued at $4,435,197.48. This represents a 5.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total transaction of $311,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 192,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,194,102.73. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,581 shares of company stock valued at $4,875,548. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Ciena from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.77.

About Ciena

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.