Ciena Corporation $CIEN is Washington Capital Management Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Washington Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 15.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,660 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the quarter. Ciena accounts for 1.4% of Washington Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ciena were worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Ciena during the third quarter valued at $1,993,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth about $253,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ciena by 375.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $100,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ciena by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,053 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,420,000 after purchasing an additional 359,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M & L Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of CIEN opened at $243.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $217.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 286.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.13. Ciena Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Ciena

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company leadership pushes back on competitive concerns — Ciena’s CSO expressed confidence versus rivals Nokia and Cisco, signaling management believes the company can defend pricing and market share in optical and packet networking markets. Ciena CSO confident against competitors Nokia, Cisco
• Positive Sentiment: Equity coverage and reprints position Ciena as an AI-era infrastructure winner — multiple write-ups (incl. Yahoo Finance / InsiderMonkey) argue Ciena is benefiting from AI-driven demand for high-capacity optical networks, supporting revenue and margin upside expectations. CIEN emerged as high-growth AI-era winner (Yahoo) CIEN emerged as high-growth AI-era winner (InsiderMonkey)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector technical tailwind: AI optics and fiber demand — trade press highlights a surge in AI-focused optical technology and fiber buildouts that directly benefits Ciena’s product portfolio and addressable market. This reinforces revenue growth potential beyond traditional telecom capex cycles. AI optics — Ciena’s surge and the AI fibre wave
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/market lists support momentum — Zacks included CIEN in a “5 growth stocks to buy” list and named CIEN a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which can attract buy-side flows and momentum traders. 5 Growth Stocks to Buy in January Best Growth Stocks to Buy for Jan. 15
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion in investor-curated lists — Steven Cress’s Top 10 stocks piece lists high-conviction names for 2026; if CIEN is included, it provides retail/ETF visibility but is less actionable than earnings or contract news. Steven Cress’ Top 10 Stocks For 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior executives — filings show Joseph Cumello and Patrick Gallagher sold sizable blocks (~11.9k and ~11.6k shares). While not necessarily a signal of company health, insider sales can unsettle sentiment, especially after big run-ups. Joseph Cumello Sells 11,929 Shares Patrick Gallagher Sells 11,618 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Renewed focus on multi-year earnings weakness — some coverage flagged a recent pullback and that CIEN’s three-year earnings decline could be coming back into investor focus, which may cap multiple expansion despite revenue momentum. Pulling back 3.1% this week — earnings focus

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total value of $1,921,741.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,350.80. The trade was a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 143,514 shares of company stock worth $32,235,186 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CIEN. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Northland Capmk downgraded Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on Ciena in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.