Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,351 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 484,903 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ciena were worth $7,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 2nd quarter worth $102,705,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Ciena by 3,577.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,965,000 after buying an additional 1,004,323 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP boosted its holdings in Ciena by 546.9% in the second quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after acquiring an additional 843,235 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 35.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708,540 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $220,286,000 after acquiring an additional 702,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 124.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,220,927 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $99,298,000 after acquiring an additional 677,299 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,747,625.85. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.60, for a total value of $784,051.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,195,264. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on CIEN shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ciena from $120.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.67.

Ciena Trading Down 0.1%

Ciena stock opened at $253.23 on Friday. 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 cap of $35.67 billion, a PE ratio of 297.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.01. Ciena Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.21 and a 12 month high of $285.97.

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

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.