Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock Price Down 12% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Viavi Solutions shares fell 12% in Thursday trading, dropping from a prior close of $47.07 to around $41.40 on volume below its daily average.
• Despite the selloff, analysts remain generally constructive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with several firms recently raising price targets and six analysts rating it a Buy.
• The company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.27 EPS on $406.8 million in revenue, while insiders sold shares and institutional investors continued to increase holdings.

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 12% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $41.50 and last traded at $41.4030. Approximately 3,438,194 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 6,576,140 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $26.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $25.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.88.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -172.35 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.99.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $406.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.80 million. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 16.80% and a negative net margin of 4.03%.The firm's revenue was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. Viavi Solutions has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.290-0.310 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 2,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were 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 owned 15,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $850,286.16. This represents a 14.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Doug Gilstrap sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $550,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 55,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,067,130. The trade was a 15.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 450,369 shares of company stock valued at $23,789,119. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 431.1% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $84,258,000 after purchasing an additional 5,389,435 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth $75,294,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,809,513 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $67,886,000 after buying an additional 2,045,702 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 1,011.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,187,600 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $38,983,000 after buying an additional 1,990,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Viavi Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $33,323,000. 95.54% of the stock is currently 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.

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