Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.16, but opened at $10.64. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $10.66, with a volume of 160,843 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VIAV shares. UBS Group started coverage on Viavi Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $10.60 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $9.50 price objective (up previously from $8.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $8.25 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Northland Securities raised their target price on Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.44.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.91 and its 200-day moving average is $8.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of -59.70 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.31.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The firm had revenue of $238.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.09 million. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 3.78% and a positive return on equity of 2.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In other news, Director Masood Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.17, for a total transaction of $137,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,923.38. The trade was a 6.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 3,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.86, for a total transaction of $26,836.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,846.34. This trade represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,831 shares of company stock valued at $345,712 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIAV. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 98,561.6% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 187,457 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 187,267 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 112,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 1,705,653 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $15,385,000 after acquiring an additional 249,554 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 7.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,194,959 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,819,000 after purchasing an additional 217,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viavi Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

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.