Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 56,909 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. $VIAV

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) by 264.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,405 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,909 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Viavi Solutions were worth $3,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the third quarter worth about $1,200,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 11.2% during the third quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 61,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 6,206 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 43.8% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 40,419 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,694,000 after buying an additional 12,303 shares during the period. M&G PLC purchased a new position in Viavi Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $15,659,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 7.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 283,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,900,000 after buying an additional 20,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIAV opened at $32.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.89. Viavi Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.51 and a 52 week high of $60.43. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.59, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.31.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 25.36%. The company had revenue of $469.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VIAV shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on Viavi Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Zacks Research cut Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Viavi Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Luke Scrivanich sold 35,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $1,299,783.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,435,031.52. The trade was a 47.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Laura Black sold 71,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.12, for a total value of $3,274,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 71,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,297,441.64. This trade represents a 49.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 198,099 shares of company stock worth $7,916,628. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc. develops testing, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications networks. Its products and software help service providers, equipment makers and enterprises build, maintain and troubleshoot fiber-optic, broadband, wireless and other network infrastructure, including technologies used in 5G and data centers. The company also makes optical technologies and security products, including features used to authenticate banknotes, identity documents and branded goods. These offerings support applications in areas such as anti-counterfeiting, document security and optical coatings.