Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 34,609 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 275,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 34,609 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Viavi Solutions worth $9,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 11.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 183,320 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 18,910 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 110.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 17,673 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 131,061 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 5,775 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 205.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 476,767 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 320,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $165,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viavi Solutions news, Director Doug Gilstrap sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $550,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 55,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,067,130. The trade was a 15.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.96, for a total value of $149,875.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,471 shares in the company, valued at $850,286.16. This represents a 14.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 450,369 shares of company stock valued at $23,789,119 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Viavi Solutions stock opened at $32.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.29 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. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.61 and a 12 month high of $60.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.86 and its 200-day moving average is $38.11.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 4.03% and a positive return on equity of 16.80%. The business had revenue of $406.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions’s revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIAV has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Viavi Solutions from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.88.

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.