Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.5%

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded down 2.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $337.80 and last traded at $337.82. 456,587 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,420,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.12.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $330.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.47. The company has a market capitalization of $100.03 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $265,739.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,076 shares of company stock worth $68,928,479 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 500.0% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 872.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.