Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $8.06 Million Position in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its Ciena stake by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 34,451 shares valued at about $8.06 million.
• Ciena continues to attract significant institutional ownership, with 91.99% of shares held by institutions and hedge funds, even as some firms added to or reduced positions.
• Insider activity has been notable: CEO Gary B. Smith and SVP Brodie Gage both sold shares recently, though the CEO’s sale was made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,451 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 14,900 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Ciena were worth $8,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,745,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ciena by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,629 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $1,318,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Ciena by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 29,876 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $6,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter worth $3,416,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,105. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,909,971.15. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ciena Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of CIEN opened at $553.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $323.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 352.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $70.77 and a 52 week high of $598.84.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 4.47%.Ciena's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ciena from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their price target on Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Ciena from $222.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.83.

Key Ciena News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage highlights growing adoption of Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 technology, including a 1 Tb/s subsea transmission deployment in Southeast Asia, reinforcing the company’s position in AI-driven and high-capacity network upgrades. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports on the Matrix Cable System and Batam–Jakarta subsea corridor suggest Ciena’s coherent optical gear is being activated in real-world deployments, which can support revenue visibility and investor enthusiasm around its subsea growth pipeline.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also included Ciena on a list of top liquid stocks, citing strong liquidity, growth attributes, and operational efficiency—factors that can help sustain institutional interest. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A feature on Ciena’s CEO marking 25 years at the company focuses on execution challenges and long-term leadership, which is informative but not a clear near-term catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Gary Smith and SVP Brodie Gage both sold shares, which can sometimes pressure sentiment even though the trades were disclosed as part of pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. Article Title

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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