Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 23.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,064 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 65,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.15% of Ciena worth $12,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 1,171.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,854 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 41,326 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth $661,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth $5,039,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Ciena by 13.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,499,035 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $72,223,000 after acquiring an additional 181,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 372.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,744 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 28,972 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ciena from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.08.

Ciena Trading Up 4.0 %

CIEN traded up $2.64 on Wednesday, reaching $68.50. 1,821,894 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,806,626. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $42.20 and a one year high of $69.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.30. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.31 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $236,005.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,485,797.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total value of $236,005.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,485,797.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $568,123. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Ciena 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.