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

Senvest Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,961,966 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 368,453 shares during the period. Ciena makes up about 4.2% of Senvest Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Senvest Management LLC owned about 1.36% of Ciena worth $120,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CIEN. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at $40,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 152.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Ciena by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. This trade represents a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051 in the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $70.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 4.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.94. Ciena Co. has a one year low of $42.20 and a one year high of $73.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.32.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.31 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on CIEN shares. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $59.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Ciena from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Ciena 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 on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.