Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 1,791 Shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division cut its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,001 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,791 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ciena were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $148,348,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the second quarter worth approximately $5,039,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,988,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,290,000 after purchasing an additional 108,407 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 119.6% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 239,389 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,744,000 after buying an additional 130,399 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $83.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.95 and a 200-day moving average of $61.84. The firm has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 88.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $43.30 and a twelve month high of $91.82.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CIEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $67.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $46.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $84.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

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 dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total transaction of $311,815.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 192,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,194,102.73. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,139.14. This trade represents a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,971 shares of company stock worth $871,799. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

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.