Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $741,216.45 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.65, for a total transaction of $741,216.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 304,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,506,503.80. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ciena Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $229.82 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $220.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.14. The company has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 270.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Ciena

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target to $280 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling material upside vs. recent levels and providing a near-term bullish catalyst. Stifel raises CIEN target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted CIEN as a top momentum/growth pick (Rank #1 / Strong Buy), which can attract momentum-driven retail and quant flows. Zacks: CIEN momentum pick
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America published a Neutral rating on CIEN (coverage note), which limits downside but does not provide a clear buy signal for investors looking for conviction. BofA Neutral on CIEN
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader hedge-fund and media coverage has increased visibility for CIEN, but recent roundups do not show a material, coordinated position change. Hedge fund roundup mentioning CIEN
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling: SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares (~$5.3M) and CEO Gary Smith sold 2,993 shares (~$741k) in mid‑January — large insider disposals can spook short‑term traders despite executives retaining large stakes. Phipps sells CIEN CEO sells CIEN
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America flagged rising AI‑spending risk for networking names and cut/downgraded tone on CIEN, raising near‑term growth and spending concerns for some investors. BofA: AI spending risks

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CIEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $138.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $292,310,000. Atreides Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ciena during the second quarter worth $102,705,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,462,840 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $941,451,000 after buying an additional 1,219,787 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Ciena by 2,174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,143,855 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $166,625,000 after buying an additional 1,093,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Ciena by 3,577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $83,965,000 after buying an additional 1,004,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

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.