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

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIEN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ciena during the first quarter worth $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Ciena by 139.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Ciena during the second quarter worth $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Ciena

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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $553.58 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.77 and a twelve month high of $598.84. The firm has a market cap of $78.27 billion, a PE ratio of 352.60, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $468.39 and a 200-day moving average of $323.52.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $380.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $280.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.83.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total value of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.05, for a total transaction of $1,659,171.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 272,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,163,683.45. This represents a 1.07% 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. Insiders sold a total of 44,174 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,661 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% 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.