Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Takes Position in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Ardsley Advisory Partners disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Viavi Solutions, buying 440,000 shares worth about $7.84 million.
• Other institutions also adjusted holdings, and hedge funds now own 95.54% of Viavi’s shares, showing heavy institutional interest in the stock.
• Viavi reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.27 and revenue of $406.8 million, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $42.75.

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 440,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,841,000. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP owned about 0.19% of Viavi Solutions as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors raised its position in Viavi Solutions by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,620,410 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $278,356,000 after purchasing an additional 664,956 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,846,226 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $86,875,000 after purchasing an additional 231,570 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,673,145 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $118,915,000 after acquiring an additional 33,463 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,351,211 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $95,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,195,062 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,116,000 after purchasing an additional 869,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VIAV shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.75.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 8,255 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.02, for a total value of $445,935.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,129 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $566,729.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,082,211. This trade represents a 21.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 450,369 shares of company stock valued at $23,789,119 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $48.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -203.03 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.85. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $60.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $406.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 4.03% and a positive return on equity of 16.80%. The business's revenue was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. Analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viavi Solutions Company 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.

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