Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 399.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,044,366 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 835,248 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.47% of Viavi Solutions worth $10,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2,189.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $92,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $129,000. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of VIAV traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.09. 5,685,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,583,389. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.26 and a 52 week high of $11.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.14. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 454.50 and a beta of 0.96.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05. The business had revenue of $254.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.77 million. Viavi Solutions had a return on equity of 5.38% and a net margin of 0.49%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 13,967 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total transaction of $149,446.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $503,937.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viavi Solutions news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 15,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.62, for a total value of $159,342.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,940 shares in the company, valued at $615,322.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 13,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total value of $149,446.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at $503,937.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,093 shares of company stock worth $319,841 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VIAV. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Northland Securities upped their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.50.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc provides network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, hyperscalers, network equipment manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, government, and avionics customers in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.