Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) Short Interest Down 16.3% in March

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) was the recipient of a large 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 trading volume of 2,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Viavi Solutions

In other news, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 9,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.09, for a total value of $100,187.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,775 shares in the company, valued at $430,014.75. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP James L. Veler, Jr. sold 13,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total transaction of $149,944.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,164 shares of company stock valued at $711,422. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viavi Solutions

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VIAV shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus increased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Viavi Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.72.

Viavi Solutions Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIAV opened at $11.41 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $6.60 and a fifty-two week high of $12.91. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.39 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.35.

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.