Barclays PLC Sells 47,615 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Barclays PLC cut its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 31.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,417 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 47,615 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.07% of Ciena worth $6,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ciena by 4.6% in the second 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 holdings in shares of Ciena by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,307 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Ciena by 424.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CIEN shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.43, for a total transaction of $236,005.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 199,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,485,797.71. This trade represents a 1.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $772,026 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $85.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.88. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $43.12 and a 1-year high of $91.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 91.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) 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). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication 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.