Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 403,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,426 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.28% of Ciena worth $24,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 119.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,941,419 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,861,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 428.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 886,354 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $42,705,000 after purchasing an additional 718,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth $40,416,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock traded up $5.20 on Friday, reaching $89.72. 6,668,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,684. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $42.20 and a 1-year high of $91.25. The firm has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95. The company's 50-day moving average is $68.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06.

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

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,489 shares of company stock valued at $657,051. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Ciena from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ciena from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Ciena from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI downgraded Ciena from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up previously 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.