UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Stock

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $10.60 to $11.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 4.49% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC raised Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Viavi Solutions from $8.25 to $10.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.88.

Viavi Solutions Trading Up 20.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIAV traded up $2.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.04. 17,597,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,297,700. Viavi Solutions has a 12-month low of $6.60 and a 12-month high of $12.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.82 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a current ratio of 3.71.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 2.22% and a negative net margin of 3.78%. The firm had revenue of $238.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Viavi Solutions will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Masood Jabbar sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total value of $300,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 180,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,805,133.33. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 2,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.43, for a total transaction of $29,224.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 54,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $568,612.31. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,802 shares of company stock valued at $481,625 in the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,226 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,675 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 29,621 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 55,515 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 18,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Viavi Solutions by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 139,248 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 29,480 shares during the period. 95.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.