Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after TheStreet downgraded the stock from a c rating to a d+ rating. The stock had previously closed at $7.84, but opened at $7.52. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $7.68, with a volume of 359,804 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on VIAV. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Viavi Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Viavi Solutions from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 15,396 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.08, for a total value of $139,795.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,629.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Gary W. Staley sold 6,804 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total transaction of $71,442.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,898 shares in the company, valued at $985,929. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 15,396 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.08, for a total value of $139,795.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,664 shares in the company, valued at $414,629.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,603 shares of company stock valued at $266,240. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIAV. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 48,044 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 32.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 42,279 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 10,316 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 8.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 115,782 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 46.8% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 120,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 38,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $1,104,000. 94.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viavi Solutions Trading Up 6.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.55 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.01. Viavi Solutions had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $263.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.43 million. On average, analysts expect that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

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.