Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Trading Down 6.6% Following Insider Selling

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV)’s share price dropped 6.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $38.81 and last traded at $38.6580. Approximately 1,970,585 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 6,252,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.37.

Specifically, Director Laura A. Black sold 71,000 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.12, for a total value of $3,274,520.00. Following the sale, the director owned 71,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,441.64. The trade was a 49.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VIAV. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Viavi Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viavi Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.88.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a 200-day moving average of $40.20. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -257.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 19.60% and a negative net margin of 2.00%.The business had revenue of $443.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts predict that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viavi Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the second quarter worth $33,000. WPG Advisers LLC grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 96.2% during the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 775 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 852 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc is a provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications service providers, cable operators, enterprises and government agencies. The company offers an extensive portfolio of fiber optic and copper cable test and measurement instruments, wireless network testing equipment and network performance monitoring software. Its products are designed to support the deployment, maintenance and optimization of high-speed broadband, 5G wireless, data center and enterprise networks.

Viavi’s product offerings are organized into two primary segments: Network & Service Enablement and Optical Security & Performance.