Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 295,300 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board significantly increased its stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. by 150.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.22% of the company valued at $5.5 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now hold 95.54% of Viavi Solutions' stock, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• Viavi Solutions reported earnings per share of $0.13 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a 15.3% year-over-year revenue increase.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 150.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 491,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 295,300 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.22% of Viavi Solutions worth $5,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $718,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 99,368 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 3,902 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,517,015 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,422,000 after buying an additional 301,482 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,337,490 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $23,609,000 after purchasing an additional 92,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $135,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.34, for a total value of $95,085.90. Following the sale, the director owned 225,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,634.94. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 13,115 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total transaction of $146,625.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 71,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $795,557.62. This trade represents a 15.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,873 shares of company stock valued at $605,095. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

VIAV stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.69. The company had a trading volume of 311,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,392,898. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 73.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.50. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $12.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $10.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.26.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $290.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.19 million. Viavi Solutions had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.130-0.14 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VIAV. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Susquehanna raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Viavi Solutions from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Viavi Solutions Profile

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.