Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 56.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,695 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 127,407 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Ciena worth $6,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $260,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943,146 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 523,313 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 valued at $101,986,000 after buying an additional 1,961,513 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 301,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 7,767.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $94,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,419 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.28. 1,710,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,818,549. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.46. Ciena Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.46 and a fifty-two week high of $69.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 61.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.83 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $942.30 million during 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 quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 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 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 often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Ciena from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ciena from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.