Empowered Funds LLC Has $7.83 Million Stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Viavi Solutions stake by 3,233.8% in the first quarter, adding 228,275 shares to own 235,334 shares valued at approximately $7.83 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 95.54% of the company.
• Viavi Solutions exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.27 in earnings per share versus the $0.24 consensus and revenue of $406.8 million, up 42.8% year over year.
• Insiders sold 450,369 shares worth about $23.8 million over the past three months. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $42.88, despite one recent downgrade to “Sell.”

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 3,233.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,334 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 228,275 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.10% of Viavi Solutions worth $7,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WPG Advisers LLC lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth $50,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Viavi Solutions by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viavi Solutions

In other news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.96, for a total transaction of $149,875.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,471 shares in the company, valued at $850,286.16. The trade was a 14.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $566,729.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 39,287 shares in the company, valued at $2,082,211. The trade was a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 450,369 shares of company stock worth $23,789,119. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

VIAV stock opened at $36.95 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of -153.95 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.33 and a 200-day moving average of $38.22. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $60.43.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $406.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 16.80% and a negative net margin of 4.03%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VIAV. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.88.

About Viavi Solutions

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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