Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) Short Interest Up 21.6% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 21.6% in March to 14,758,203 shares (about 6.5% of shares shorted) with a short-interest ratio of 2.1 days based on average daily volume.
• Company insiders have been selling: CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 74,315 shares and insiders have sold 485,772 shares (~$12.74M) in the last 90 days, while insiders own about 1.8% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (six Buys, two Holds, one Sell) and an average price target of $25, though Rosenblatt raised its target to $42.

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 14,758,203 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 12,138,646 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,948,204 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 6.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Viavi Solutions

In other news, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 74,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.48, for a total transaction of $1,967,861.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,849,437 shares in the company, valued at $48,973,091.76. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gary W. Staley sold 24,237 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.93, for a total transaction of $579,991.41. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,260,869.31. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 485,772 shares of company stock worth $12,736,803 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,845 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,631 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIAV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $27.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Viavi Solutions from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.00.

Viavi Solutions Stock Up 4.8%

Viavi Solutions stock opened at $41.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of -228.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.61. Viavi Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $8.10 and a fifty-two week high of $43.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.51.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.03. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 13.03% and a negative net margin of 3.38%.The business had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.25 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 36.4% on a year-over-year basis. Viavi Solutions has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.220-4.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Viavi Solutions will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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