Insider Selling: Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $1,091,236.32 in Stock

Posted by Brian Himes on Oct 13th, 2026

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.66, for a total value of $1,091,236.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 228,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,432,931.62. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $404.26 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ciena Corporation has a 52 week low of $159.01 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.24, a PEG ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $379.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $441.83.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CIEN. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.11.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CIEN

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 12,417 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Ciena by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,533 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 38.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $260,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

Positive Sentiment: Ciena’s recent results and outlook remain supportive: record quarterly performance was attributed to strong AI and data-center demand, improved margins, and supply-chain investments. The company also has ambitious fiscal 2029 targets. Can Ciena Sustain Margin Gains Despite Rising Component Demand?
Positive Sentiment: Technical analysis identified a bullish monthly reversal and a potential continuation of the longer-term advance if the stock holds key support levels. Ciena Corporation Price Forecast
Positive Sentiment: Openreach’s deployment of Ciena technology highlights continuing customer adoption of the company’s optical-networking products. Openreach deployed Ciena technology
Neutral Sentiment: Ciena appointed Monika Fahlbusch as chief people officer, a management update with limited immediate earnings impact. Ciena appoints Monika Fahlbusch
Negative Sentiment: The immediate catalyst was likely profit-taking after the recent rally, amplified by a sector-wide selloff that included Lumentum and other optical-networking companies. Ciena amid profit-taking after recent rally
Negative Sentiment: Recent cautious commentary about AI spending raised concerns that hyperscaler or data-center customers could moderate infrastructure budgets, weighing on Ciena’s growth narrative and other AI-linked stocks. Why optical stocks were among the market’s biggest losers

About Ciena

(Get Free Report)

Ciena Corporation is a networking technology company that provides communications infrastructure, software and services for telecommunications providers, cloud operators, enterprises, governments and research institutions. Its solutions are designed to help organizations build, manage and automate high-capacity networks that support applications such as cloud computing, broadband connectivity, data center interconnection and 5G services.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems and coherent optical technologies, routing and switching platforms, broadband access solutions, network management software and professional services.