Why Viacom, DaVita, and K2M Group Holdings Slumped Today

Monday was a down day on Wall Street, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all giving up between 0.1% and 0.2%. The trading session was relatively quiet on the Columbus Day holiday, with bond markets closed but the stock market open for normal trading hours. Most of those following the financial markets looked forward to the beginning of earnings season, hoping that the U.S. economy will be able to keep up positive momentum for the rest of 2017 and beyond. Still, some stocks suffered outsize losses. Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB), DaVita (NYSE: DVA), and K2M Group Holdings (NASDAQ: KTWO) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.

Shares of Viacom fell more than 6% after the media company got downgraded by Wall Street analysts. Professionals at Citi lowered their rating on Viacom from neutral to sell, cutting the price target on the stock by $9 to $24 per share. The analyst believes that competition in the cable television industry will force cable distributors to look to cut costs, and that could lead major cable distributors either to demand better terms from Viacom to distribute its content or to break ties with the media company entirely. Investors have already been worried about Viacom, and today's move sends the stock to levels not seen since 2009.

Image source: Viacom.

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Source: Fool.com