Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) from $8.60 to $9.30, indicating a potential downside of 14.91% from the current stock price, while maintaining an "underweight" rating.
• Viavi Solutions reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.12, with revenues of $290.50 million, reflecting a 15.3% increase year-over-year.
• The stock has received a mixed consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with one sell rating, two hold ratings, six buy ratings, and one strong buy rating, alongside an average target price of $13.31.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $8.60 to $9.30 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential downside of 14.91% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $13.50 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Susquehanna upgraded Viavi Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.31.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $10.93 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day moving average is $10.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.32 and a beta of 0.87. Viavi Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $7.05 and a fifty-two week high of $12.91.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Viavi Solutions had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 3.21%. The business had revenue of $290.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In related news, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.02, for a total value of $84,017.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 242,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,427,956.22. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 38.1% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,967 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 3,579 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the first quarter worth $1,098,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 2.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,106,034 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $12,377,000 after purchasing an additional 30,359 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 1,429.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,008 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 201.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 49,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 32,867 shares in the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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