Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Viavi Solutions stake by 6.0% in Q1, buying 64,193 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,131,435 shares worth about $37.7 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO Oleg Khaykin and SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert among executives trimming positions; insiders sold 450,369 shares worth about $23.8 million over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on Viavi Solutions, with six Buy ratings, two Hold ratings and one Sell, while the company recently beat earnings expectations and reported 42.8% year-over-year revenue growth in its latest quarter.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,131,435 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 64,193 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of Viavi Solutions worth $37,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIAV. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 8,243.2% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,174 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 57,221 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 12,355.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 117,951 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,925,000 after acquiring an additional 117,004 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 96.2% during the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 775 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Viavi Solutions news, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 136,547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.82, for a total transaction of $7,075,865.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,188,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,603,512.36. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 8,255 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.02, for a total transaction of $445,935.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,087,368.58. The trade was a 29.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 450,369 shares of company stock worth $23,789,119 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Viavi Solutions from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.88.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

Viavi Solutions stock opened at $38.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -158.99 and a beta of 1.18. 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 50 day moving average of $47.90 and a 200-day moving average of $36.80. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.61 and a 52 week high of $60.43.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $406.80 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viavi Solutions 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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