Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $9.17 Million Stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 34,609 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Viavi Solutions were worth $9,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 431.1% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $84,258,000 after buying an additional 5,389,435 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $75,294,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,809,513 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045,702 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Viavi Solutions by 1,011.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,187,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990,848 shares during the period. Finally, Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,323,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In related news, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 8,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.02, for a total value of $445,935.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,087,368.58. The trade was a 29.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 136,547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.82, for a total value of $7,075,865.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,188,798 shares in the company, valued at $61,603,512.36. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 450,369 shares of company stock worth $23,789,119 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIAV opened at $32.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.29 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.11. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.61 and a twelve month high of $60.43.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 16.80% and a negative net margin of 4.03%.The firm had revenue of $406.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIAV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price target on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.88.

Viavi Solutions Profile

Viavi Solutions Inc is a provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, cable operators, enterprises and government agencies. The company offers an extensive portfolio of fiber optic and copper cable test and measurement instruments, wireless network testing equipment and network performance monitoring software. Its products are designed to support the deployment, maintenance and optimization of high-speed broadband, 5G wireless, data center and enterprise networks.

Viavi’s product offerings are organized into two primary segments: Network & Service Enablement and Optical Security & Performance.