Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its Viavi Solutions stake by 1,198.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1,181,705 shares valued at about $21.1 million.
• Other major institutional investors also boosted their positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 95.54% of Viavi Solutions’ stock.
• Analysts are broadly constructive on the company: VIAV has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $39.25 target price, while the stock recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 1,198.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,181,705 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,090,713 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.51% of Viavi Solutions worth $21,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 431.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $84,258,000 after acquiring an additional 5,389,435 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $20,110,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 772.9% in 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. lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1,658.2% in 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. lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 78.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on VIAV shares. UBS Group raised their price objective 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 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.96, for a total transaction of $149,875.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,471 shares in the company, valued at $850,286.16. The trade was a 14.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of Viavi Solutions 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 sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 450,369 shares of company stock valued at $23,789,119 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of VIAV opened at $47.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -198.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.89. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.08 and a 12-month high of $60.43.

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

About Viavi Solutions

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VIAV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report).

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.