Primecap Management Co. CA Buys 5,000 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,500 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.09% of Ciena worth $7,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 119.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,397,560 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $260,054,000 after buying an additional 2,943,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1,944.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,062,394 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $101,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,513 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 7,767.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $94,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,419 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Ciena in the first quarter valued at about $48,214,000. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP raised its position in Ciena by 118.7% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 1,524,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $75,378,000 after purchasing an additional 827,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $70.13 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 market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.61, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.21 and its 200-day moving average is $55.28. 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 EPS 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 return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CIEN. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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, October 28th. 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 company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 1.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051 over the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.