Northern Trust Corp Buys 301,482 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,517,015 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 301,482 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.13% of Viavi Solutions worth $25,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIAV. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,334,893 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $33,682,000 after purchasing an additional 139,934 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 185.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 111,730 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 72,599 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 836.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 7,434 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Viavi Solutions by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,732 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 201.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 49,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 32,867 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In other Viavi Solutions news, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $74,794.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 259,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,311,002.52. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 14,323 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total value of $160,990.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,057.48. This represents a 20.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,549 shares of company stock worth $485,916 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Viavi Solutions Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VIAV traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.29. 335,482 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,855,156. The company's fifty day moving average is $10.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.55. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.60 and a fifty-two week high of $12.91. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of -51.64 and a beta of 0.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VIAV. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 31st. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.69.

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.