Short Interest in Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) Drops By 16.3%

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,990,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the February 28th total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of VIAV stock opened at $11.19 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.32. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Viavi Solutions has a twelve month low of $6.60 and a twelve month high of $12.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on VIAV shares. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Viavi Solutions from $10.60 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viavi Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.72.

Insider Transactions at Viavi Solutions

In other news, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 14,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total value of $160,990.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,057.48. The trade was a 20.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masood Jabbar sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.01, for a total transaction of $300,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 180,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,133.33. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,164 shares of company stock worth $711,422. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in Viavi Solutions by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 3,212 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viavi Solutions by 804.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,938 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 6,171 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 836.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 7,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 9,389 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684 shares during the last quarter. 95.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.