Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 203,900 Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

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 Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 203,900 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,059,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Viavi Solutions as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,614,684 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $198,108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085,648 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,524,395 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $106,297,000 after purchasing an additional 171,746 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,040,890 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $70,972,000 after purchasing an additional 112,978 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,398,610 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $64,626,000 after purchasing an additional 620,773 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,475,819 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $35,106,000 after purchasing an additional 435,265 shares during the period. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Northland Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.69.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of VIAV stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.03. 2,454,076 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,890,284. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.47. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.60 and a 1 year high of $12.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 3.18.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP James L. Veler, Jr. sold 13,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total transaction of $149,944.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $74,794.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 259,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,311,002.52. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,549 shares of company stock valued at $485,916 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance.