GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 215.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,651 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,336 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 815,486 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,326,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $68.47 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.09. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $39.94 and a 52 week high of $69.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,552,877.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a 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 note on Thursday, September 5th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Ciena from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.92.

Ciena 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.