State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Position in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,724 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 369 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ciena were worth $3,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 424.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the first quarter worth $40,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Ciena by 339.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,213 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

Ciena stock opened at $70.93 on Wednesday. Ciena Co. has a twelve month low of $42.20 and a twelve month high of $73.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.46, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.81 and its 200 day moving average is $54.20.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $196,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $135,278.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $568,123. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ciena from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas downgraded Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Eight equities 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, Ciena has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.