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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.3 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.80. 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.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total value of $892,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at $18,263,553.84. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,439,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,984,000. Objective Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 244.0% during the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 3,516 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 535.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 520,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,568,000 after purchasing an additional 438,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 7,402 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.