Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Northland Securities raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $13.00. The stock had previously closed at $9.22, but opened at $10.00. Northland Securities currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $10.03, with a volume of 894,793 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Viavi Solutions from $13.00 to $10.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $8.25 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.42.

Insider Activity

In other Viavi Solutions news, Director Masood Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.17, for a total transaction of $137,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 213,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,923.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Kevin Christopher Siebert sold 8,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.63, for a total value of $72,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $488,604.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masood Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.17, for a total transaction of $137,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,923.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 85,976 shares of company stock worth $720,562. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viavi Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,148,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $264,959,000 after acquiring an additional 408,484 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 305.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,161,535 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $110,548,000 after purchasing an additional 9,161,535 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,203,703 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $49,489,000 after purchasing an additional 606,522 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,818,337 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,972,000 after purchasing an additional 661,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 65.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,290,197 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $22,604,000 after buying an additional 1,298,394 shares during the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.29 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.81% and a negative net margin of 2.58%. The company had revenue of $238.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.17 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.