Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 826.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,953 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Ciena worth $6,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,337,000. North Growth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.4% in the third quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 531,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,677,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 97.5% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 46,584 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,869,000 after acquiring an additional 23,000 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,506 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,988,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas cut Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company’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 value of $196,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,200 shares of company stock worth $568,123. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN opened at $69.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 74.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 4.06 and a quick ratio of 2.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.43. Ciena Co. has a 1-year low of $42.20 and a 1-year high of $73.47.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.