PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 1,116 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,327 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted 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. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Ciena by 2.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,307 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Ciena by 5.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Ciena by 424.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $196,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 205,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,489 shares of company stock valued at $657,051. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 28th. 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 research note on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

Ciena Trading Down 2.4 %

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

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $942.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.