Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in Ciena by 7.4% in Q4, selling 3,110 shares and finishing the period with 38,722 shares valued at about $9.06 million, while institutional investors hold roughly 91.99% of the stock.
• Strong quarterly results: Ciena reported $1.35 EPS (vs. $1.17 expected) and revenue of $1.43 billion, up 33.1% year‑over‑year, with the stock trading near a one‑year high and a market cap of about $73.6 billion.
• Insider and analyst activity: insiders sold about 42,974 shares (~$16.6M) over the past three months, and several analysts have raised price targets (consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $355.59 target; Bank of America at $550).

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 3,110 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Ciena were worth $9,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $327,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $1,724,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $748,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 40,102 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,379,000 after buying an additional 2,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company's stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $520.34 on Friday. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $63.99 and a 1 year high of $527.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $399.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.96. The company has a market cap of $73.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 331.43, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.79, for a total value of $566,148.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,297,072.39. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.51, for a total transaction of $1,226,585.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,909,971.15. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock worth $16,615,505. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $320.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $355.59.

Ciena Company 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.

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