Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 541,504 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 129,648 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ciena were worth $78,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the 1st quarter worth approximately $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Ciena by 14.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 116.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 72,324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after buying an additional 38,942 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.84, for a total value of $121,462.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,831,833.28. This trade represents a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total value of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,414,350.80. This trade represents a 18.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,514 shares of company stock valued at $32,235,186. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Ciena News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ciena this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights a 42.6% three?month gain as AI-driven bandwidth demand, a ~$5B backlog and a raised 2026 outlook are driving the rally—this explains much of the recent buying interest despite a rich P/E. Ciena Stock Gains 43% in 3 Months
• Positive Sentiment: Ciena agreed to acquire Nubis for $270M to accelerate AI?ready data?center interconnect capabilities — a strategic tuck?in that strengthens its DCI product set and addressable market for AI cloud connectivity. CIEN Acquires Nubis
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media momentum: Zacks put CIEN on a #1 (Strong Buy) list and several growth?stock roundups; coverage and inclusion in bullish “AI infrastructure” stories support demand for the shares. Best Growth Stocks to Buy for Jan. 15
• Positive Sentiment: Industry/management tone is constructive — Ciena’s CSO expressed confidence competing with Nokia and Cisco, and trade press highlights Ciena’s position in the “AI optics”/fiber wave, reinforcing the growth narrative. Ciena CSO confident
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion in investor lists (e.g., Steven Cress’ Top 10 stocks) increases visibility but is not a direct fundamental change. Steven Cress’ Top 10 Stocks For 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Executives Joseph Cumello and Patrick Gallagher sold ~11.9k and ~11.6k shares respectively; insider sales can raise short?term concern about liquidity/timing even if routine. Joseph Cumello Sells Shares Patrick Gallagher Sells Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage flags a recent pullback and scrutiny over a multi?year earnings decline — investors may be profit?taking or re?examining forward margins vs. the premium valuation. Pulling back 3.1% this week

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $270.00 target price on Ciena in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.50.

Ciena Stock Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $243.78 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $34.34 billion, a PE ratio of 286.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.80. Ciena Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.21 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Ciena’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.