Viavi Solutions Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VIAV)

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 8,808 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 212% compared to the average volume of 2,823 call options.

Viavi Solutions Stock Up 4.4%

NASDAQ:VIAV traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $32.21. 1,637,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,201,612. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.81. The firm has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -178.65 and a beta of 0.92. Viavi Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $8.10 and a fifty-two week high of $35.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.25 million. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 13.03% and a negative net margin of 3.38%.Viavi Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.220-4.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viavi Solutions will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIAV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Viavi Solutions from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Viavi Solutions from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Viavi Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viavi Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 42,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,176,092.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,592,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,803,485. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul Mcnab sold 3,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.89, for a total transaction of $116,792.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,532.22. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 485,772 shares of company stock valued at $12,736,803 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Viavi Solutions by 431.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,639,682 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $84,258,000 after buying an additional 5,389,435 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 116.0% in 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 shares of Viavi Solutions by 1,011.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,187,600 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990,848 shares in the last quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,323,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Viavi Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,110,000. 95.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viavi Solutions

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.