Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Holdings in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Viavi Solutions stake by 88.4% in the first quarter, selling nearly 5.9 million shares and retaining 775,188 shares worth approximately $25.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.54% of VIAV.
• Viavi reported quarterly EPS of $0.27, exceeding the $0.24 analyst estimate, while revenue reached $406.8 million and rose 42.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains a Moderate Buy, with six Buy, two Hold and one Sell rating and an average price target of $42.88; however, company insiders sold about $23.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 88.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 775,188 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 5,897,957 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.33% of Viavi Solutions worth $25,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 96.2% in the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 775 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 24,555 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Viavi Solutions by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 32,572 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Viavi Solutions by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,094 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of VIAV opened at $32.23 on Thursday. 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 has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.29 and a beta of 1.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $45.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.11. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $60.43.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $406.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 16.80% and a negative net margin of 4.03%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VIAV shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Viavi Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of the company'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 value of $566,729.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,082,211. This represents a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.96, for a total transaction of $149,875.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,471 shares in the company, valued at $850,286.16. This represents a 14.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 450,369 shares of company stock valued at $23,789,119. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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