Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 52,975 Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 348,155 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 52,975 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Viavi Solutions worth $3,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,307,974 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $47,887,000 after buying an additional 54,633 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Viavi Solutions by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,475,819 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,106,000 after acquiring an additional 435,265 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 4.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,654 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $12,904,000 after purchasing an additional 161,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,675 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 29,621 shares during the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $11.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.34. 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 52-week low of $6.60 and a 52-week high of $12.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -62.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Masood Jabbar sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total value of $300,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 180,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,133.33. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James L. Veler, Jr. sold 13,807 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total value of $149,944.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,164 shares of company stock valued at $711,422. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIAV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.72.

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.