Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management initiated a new position in Viavi Solutions, buying 169,009 shares worth about $3.0 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 95.54% of Viavi’s stock held by institutions, and several funds recently added to their positions, including Royal Bank of Canada, AQR Capital Management, and Millennium Management.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Oleg Khaykin and Director Doug Gilstrap, even as Viavi beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy.

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 169,009 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,012,000. Madison Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Viavi Solutions as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIAV. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 11.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 183,320 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 18,910 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 110.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,663 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 17,673 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 131,061 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,775 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 205.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 476,767 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 320,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the first quarter worth approximately $165,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 136,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.82, for a total transaction of $7,075,865.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,188,798 shares in the company, valued at $61,603,512.36. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Doug Gilstrap sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $550,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 55,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,067,130. The trade was a 15.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 476,959 shares of company stock worth $24,582,112 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VIAV shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Viavi Solutions from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Viavi Solutions from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Viavi Solutions from $27.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viavi Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.25.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

VIAV opened at $53.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.54 billion, a PE ratio of -223.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.51 and a 200-day moving average of $26.94. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.87 and a 52-week high of $60.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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