Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock Price Down 7.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) shares traded down 7.9% during trading on Monday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $41.91 and last traded at $41.8570. 2,613,994 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 6,011,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.46.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VIAV. 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. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura A. Black sold 71,000 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.12, for a total transaction of $3,274,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 71,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,297,441.64. This trade represents a 49.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 35,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $1,299,783.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 39,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,031.52. The trade was a 47.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 199,694 shares of company stock worth $7,976,233. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,228,529,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the second quarter worth $134,922,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,673,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $118,915,000 after purchasing an additional 33,463 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the second quarter worth $87,914,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth $75,294,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of -273.75 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.94.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 2.00% and a positive return on equity of 19.60%. The business had revenue of $443.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 52.5% on a year-over-year basis. Viavi Solutions has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.400-0.420 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: VIAV) develops test, measurement, and assurance technologies for communications networks, optical systems, and related industrial applications. Its solutions are used by network equipment manufacturers, communications service providers, contractors, and government organizations to install, validate, monitor, and maintain wired and wireless networks.

The company’s offerings include instruments and software for fiber-optic testing, network performance monitoring, service activation, troubleshooting, and assurance.