Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Up 7.3% – Still a Buy?

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)’s share price rose 7.3% on Monday. The company traded as high as $32.50 and last traded at $32.6730. 1,065,101 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,971,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VIAV. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.43.

Viavi Solutions Trading Up 7.9%

The company has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -218.08 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.91.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $443.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $432.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Viavi Solutions has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.400-0.420 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ilan Daskal sold 56,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.29, for a total value of $2,042,764.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $367,690.28. The trade was a 84.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul McNab sold 11,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total value of $429,917.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,639 shares in the company, valued at $999,151.83. This trade represents a 30.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 199,694 shares of company stock valued at $7,976,233 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,228,529,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 1,402.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,639,752 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $236,418,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264,496 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Viavi Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,922,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $87,914,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth approximately $75,294,000. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: VIAV) develops equipment, software and services used to test, monitor and secure communications networks. Its solutions support network operators, equipment manufacturers, government agencies and other organizations involved in the design, deployment and operation of wired and wireless networks.

The company’s products include fiber-optic and broadband test instruments, network performance and service-assurance software, optical spectrum analyzers, monitoring systems and tools for testing 5G and other advanced communications technologies.