1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,758 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 5.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 424.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Ciena by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 11,792 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ciena 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 transaction of $135,278.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $568,123. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

Ciena Price Performance

CIEN stock opened at $64.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $41.37 and a 1 year high of $69.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.69. 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) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.31 million. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.