Citigroup Inc. Lowers Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,977 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 22,742 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.16% of Ciena worth $14,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,404 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,307 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ciena by 424.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $69.17 on Thursday. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $42.20 and a 52 week high of $73.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 73.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.67.

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

Ciena declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,139.14. This trade represents a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at $11,552,877.04. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,489 shares of company stock valued at $657,051. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CIEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ciena from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup raised Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

About Ciena

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.