Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Viavi Solutions Inc. shares experienced a significant decline, opening at $10.36 after closing at $11.03, with a trading volume of over 6 million shares.
• Several analysts have upgraded Viavi Solutions' ratings, with Susquehanna setting a price target of $15.00 and Wall Street Zen moving from "buy" to "strong buy".
• The company reported a net margin of 3.21% for its latest quarterly earnings, surpassing analyst estimates with earnings per share of $0.13 on revenue of $290.50 million.

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $11.03, but opened at $10.36. Viavi Solutions shares last traded at $10.39, with a volume of 6,124,465 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIAV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $13.50 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.31.

Viavi Solutions Trading Down 6.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.66 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50 day moving average is $10.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In related news, Director Richard Belluzzo sold 8,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 242,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,427,956.22. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viavi Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sirios Capital Management L P boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 164.5% during the second quarter. Sirios Capital Management L P now owns 333,222 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,356,000 after acquiring an additional 207,257 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 104.4% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,368,397 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $13,780,000 after acquiring an additional 698,767 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 11.0% during the second quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 26,825 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 1,053.4% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 369,075 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,717,000 after acquiring an additional 337,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viavi Solutions during the second quarter valued at $235,000. 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.

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