Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Viavi Solutions, buying 101,199 shares worth about $1.8 million.
• Institutional interest in Viavi remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors owning 95.54% of the stock; several firms, including Arrowstreet Capital and Millennium Management, sharply increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock now carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a $39.25 average price target.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 101,199 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,803,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 431.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $84,258,000 after buying an additional 5,389,435 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the third quarter valued at $20,110,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 772.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,163,336 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $14,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,071 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1,658.2% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 889,877 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $8,961,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 78.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,763,811 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $22,383,000 after purchasing an additional 773,069 shares during the period. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VIAV. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 8,255 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,087,368.58. This trade represents a 29.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 461,184 shares of company stock worth $24,158,554. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ VIAV opened at $53.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.38. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.87 and a 12 month high of $60.43. The company has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -221.07 and a beta of 1.22.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share 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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