Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 41,454 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Ciena were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ciena by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,308 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $130,392,000 after acquiring an additional 523,313 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Ciena by 1,944.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,062,394 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $101,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,513 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ciena by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,464 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $98,743,000 after acquiring an additional 301,390 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 7,767.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $94,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941,419 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,456,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,820,914. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.62, a P/E/G ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $39.94 and a twelve month high of $69.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $59.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.96. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,552,877.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock worth $568,123. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ciena from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.