Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 33,074 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.67% of Ciena worth $148,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 424.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 152.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Ciena by 118.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,572 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 241.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,424 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN traded down $3.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,911,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,075. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.63, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $42.20 and a one year high of $91.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 4.06 and a quick ratio of 2.99.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $236,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares in the company, valued at $13,485,797.71. This represents a 1.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. This trade represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,989 shares of company stock worth $460,211 in the last quarter. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Ciena from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ciena from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.00.

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.