Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) is Atreides Management LP’s 7th Largest Position

Atreides Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,219,211 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,373,107 shares during the period. Ciena comprises approximately 3.5% of Atreides Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Atreides Management LP owned about 1.54% of Ciena worth $136,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CIEN. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in shares of Ciena by 283.7% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 50,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after purchasing an additional 36,970 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $259,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $2,249,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Ciena by 28.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,951 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Ciena by 25.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 541,097 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,326,000 after purchasing an additional 110,789 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ciena from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $69.72 on Monday. Ciena Co. has a 1 year low of $42.20 and a 1 year high of $73.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.47 and a 200-day moving average of $56.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.94.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. Ciena had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 generally a sign that the company’s board 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.