Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price fell 1.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $77.98 and last traded at $77.83. 2,575,607 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 8,561,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ANET. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $98.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.80.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $6,788,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,013.60. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 35.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc engages in the development, marketing, and sale of data-driven, client to cloud networking solutions for data center, campus, and routing environments in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. Its cloud networking solutions consist of Extensible Operating System (EOS), a publish-subscribe state-sharing networking operating system offered in combination with a set of network applications.