Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on VIAV. Weiss Ratings cut Viavi Solutions from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 price target on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.83.

Viavi Solutions Stock Up 12.3%

Shares of VIAV opened at $31.98 on Friday. Viavi Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $15.51 and a fifty-two week high of $60.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.70. The firm has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 133.26 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a return on equity of 27.07% and a net margin of 3.97%. The business had revenue of $469.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Laura A. Black sold 71,000 shares of Viavi Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.12, for a total transaction of $3,274,520.00. Following the sale, the director owned 71,497 shares in the company, valued at $3,297,441.64. This trade represents a 49.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul McNab sold 11,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total transaction of $429,917.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,151.83. The trade was a 30.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 198,099 shares of company stock worth $7,916,628 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Viavi Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,228,529,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 1,402.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,639,752 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $236,418,000 after buying an additional 5,264,496 shares during the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth approximately $3,187,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the first quarter worth approximately $3,048,000. Finally, Ma Investment Partnership LP boosted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 150.0% during the first quarter. Ma Investment Partnership LP now owns 500,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,640,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc develops testing, monitoring and assurance solutions for communications networks. Its products and software help service providers, equipment makers and enterprises build, maintain and troubleshoot fiber-optic, broadband, wireless and other network infrastructure, including technologies used in 5G and data centers.

The company also makes optical technologies and security products, including features used to authenticate banknotes, identity documents and branded goods.