Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Viavi Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $10.60 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $8.25 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $9.50 price objective (up from $8.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $10.26 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.31, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of -60.35 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.67. Viavi Solutions has a twelve month low of $6.60 and a twelve month high of $11.49.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 3.78% and a positive return on equity of 2.22%. The business had revenue of $238.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Viavi Solutions will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Masood Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 6.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 2,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.43, for a total value of $29,224.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 54,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,612.31. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,831 shares of company stock worth $345,712 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 1.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 65.2% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 1,298,394 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 54,718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 9,380 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 726,702 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,992,000 after buying an additional 26,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

Viavi Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance.