Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Buys 130,000 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 7.0% in the first quarter, buying 130,000 more shares and bringing its holdings to 2.0 million shares worth about $66.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions in VIAV, and 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutions.
• Viavi Solutions reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings and revenue beating estimates, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $42.88.

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 130,000 shares during the quarter. Viavi Solutions comprises 1.6% of Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.86% of Viavi Solutions worth $66,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIAV. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the 4th quarter worth about $1,803,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,772,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,887,000. Tensor Edge Capital LLC acquired a new position in Viavi Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,673,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 22.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 400,886 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,087,000 after acquiring an additional 72,930 shares during the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other news, Director Doug Gilstrap sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $550,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 55,766 shares in the company, valued at $3,067,130. The trade was a 15.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $566,729.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 39,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,082,211. This represents a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

VIAV stock opened at $41.80 on Friday. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.61 and a 1-year 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. The firm has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of -174.16 and a beta of 1.18. The business's 50-day moving average price is $46.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.60.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $406.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions's revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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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