Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,277 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,856 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Ciena worth $4,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 119.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,397,560 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943,146 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 7,767.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $94,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,419 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ciena by 428.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 886,354 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $42,705,000 after acquiring an additional 718,551 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,416,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at about $35,403,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David M. Rothenstein sold 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 205,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,552,877.04. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total value of $88,928.11. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of CIEN stock opened at $69.72 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 74.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.94. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $42.20 and a 52 week high of $73.47.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $942.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.31 million. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America reiterated 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 restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley cut Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.