Ciena Corporation $CIEN is DigitalBridge Group Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

DigitalBridge Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 309,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 80,973 shares during the period. Ciena comprises about 3.5% of DigitalBridge Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. DigitalBridge Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Ciena worth $45,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 2.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 42.5% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 312 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ciena news, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 83,552 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.44, for a total transaction of $19,170,170.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,641,134.40. This represents a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 147,131 shares of company stock valued at $34,898,686 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Ciena

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI/infrastructure demand and recent earnings strength: Analysts point to AI-driven network spending and a recent quarterly beat as the core drivers of Ciena’s multi-month rally, supporting near-term revenue growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings estimate upgrades: Street earnings estimates have been revised higher, reinforcing the bullish thesis that Ciena can capitalize on growing bandwidth and AI-related infrastructure spending. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks momentum / Strong Buy placements: Ciena has been added repeatedly to Zacks’ top momentum/Strong Buy lists, which can attract momentum-driven flows and ETF/institutional buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Share-price milestones and reports of institutional buying: Coverage notes Ciena hitting multi-year/52-week highs and increased institutional interest, which can fuel further upside as momentum and FOMO push flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Featured in fund commentary: Madison Small Cap Fund named Ciena a standout performer in its letter — a visibility note but not necessarily a catalyst for outsized flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader tech-event context: Coverage of Nvidia’s GTC showed muted moves across some tech names after the keynote; this suggests some event-driven volatility could be short-lived and not specific to Ciena. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and cost concerns: Analysts warn that the stock’s rapid run-up leaves Ciena with a rich valuation and that rising costs could pressure margins, limiting near-term upside and increasing downside risk on any revenue miss. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition/relative-attractiveness: Some analysts argue peers like Arista may be a better risk/reward right now, which could divert capital if investors rotate to names with cleaner margins or lower multiples. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CIEN. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.65.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $369.15 on Wednesday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $379.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $289.40 and its 200 day moving average is $219.12. The company has a market cap of $52.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 235.13, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ciena 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.