Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 117,004 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its stake in Viavi Solutions, buying 117,004 additional shares in the first quarter and lifting its holdings to 117,951 shares valued at about $3.9 million.
• Viavi reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.27 versus $0.24 expected and revenue of $406.8 million versus $393.8 million estimated; revenue was up 42.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.88, even as some insiders have been selling shares recently.

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 12,355.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,951 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 117,004 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.05% of Viavi Solutions worth $3,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 24,555 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 32,572 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,094 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of VIAV stock opened at $38.16 on Friday. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.61 and a fifty-two week high of $60.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -158.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.80.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $406.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 4.03% and a positive return on equity of 16.80%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIAV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Viavi Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,082,211. This trade represents a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 owned 15,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at $850,286.16. The trade was a 14.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 450,369 shares of company stock worth $23,789,119 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.