Ciena Corporation $CIEN Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus increased 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. Zacks Research upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.67.

Ciena Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $253.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.01. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $285.97.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 21,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.89, for a total transaction of $5,300,631.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,747,625.85. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,746.52. This represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 164,042 shares of company stock worth $37,766,026. Insiders own 0.93% 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.