LPL Financial LLC Raises Stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,891 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Viavi Solutions were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,475,819 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,106,000 after purchasing an additional 435,265 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,334,893 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,682,000 after buying an additional 139,934 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,654 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $12,904,000 after buying an additional 161,532 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,675 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,864,000 after buying an additional 29,621 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 731,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,391,000 after acquiring an additional 41,563 shares in the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VIAV. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upped their target price on Viavi Solutions from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 9,034 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.09, for a total value of $100,187.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,014.75. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James L. Veler, Jr. sold 13,807 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total transaction of $149,944.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,164 shares of company stock worth $411,122 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ VIAV opened at $10.51 on Friday. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.60 and a 12-month high of $12.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.49. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.39 and a beta of 0.89.

Viavi Solutions Profile

Viavi Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance.