Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares dropped 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $108.80 and last traded at $112.90. Approximately 4,078,651 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 9,117,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $145.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $112.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.36.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, insider John F. Mccool sold 288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total value of $31,305.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.06, for a total value of $7,107,506.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,289.82. The trade was a 50.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 247,832 shares of company stock valued at $27,642,337. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th 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. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.