Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Bought by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 122.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,447 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,176 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $4,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,334,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,407 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Ciena by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,397,560 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $260,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943,146 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ciena by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,439,478 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $273,427,000 after purchasing an additional 53,078 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Ciena by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,308 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $130,392,000 after purchasing an additional 523,313 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $148,348,000 after buying an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CIEN traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,563,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,460. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.40 and its 200 day moving average is $64.45. Ciena Co. has a 52-week low of $43.30 and a 52-week high of $91.82. The firm has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.89.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). Ciena had a return on equity of 4.72% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.91, for a total transaction of $30,068.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,547 shares in the company, valued at $4,256,582.77. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,781 shares of company stock worth $4,298,500. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.00.

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.