D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 706,223 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 98,370 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Viavi Solutions worth $7,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 3,212 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viavi Solutions by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,226 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Viavi Solutions by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,442 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 438,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $74,794.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 259,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,311,002.52. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 14,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total transaction of $160,990.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,057.48. This represents a 20.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,549 shares of company stock valued at $485,916 in the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIAV traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $9.28. 1,249,711 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,869,882. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $10.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.55. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.60 and a 12 month high of $12.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of -51.55 and a beta of 0.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VIAV. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.69.

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.