Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 7.5% on Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price was down 7.5% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $76.09 and last traded at $77.10. Approximately 5,139,480 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,694,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.36.

Specifically, 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 value of $6,788,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,013.60. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $712,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 147,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,157,209.52. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $107.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.03.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. GHE LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $630,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Arista Networks by 395.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 18,593 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 14,843 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.