Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $49.28, but opened at $45.34. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $47.9080, with a volume of 4,750,819 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VIAV. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.98. The company has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -203.99 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $406.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 16.80% and a negative net margin of 4.03%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In related news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.96, for a total transaction of $149,875.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $850,286.16. The trade was a 14.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 10,693 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $566,729.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,082,211. This trade represents a 21.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 461,184 shares of company stock valued at $24,158,554 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 11.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 183,320 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 18,910 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 110.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,663 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 17,673 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 131,061 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 5,775 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 205.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 476,767 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 320,662 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth $165,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

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.