Short Interest in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Expands By 30.6%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,860,000 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the February 28th total of 15,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,013.60. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,439,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $5,984,000. Objective Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 244.0% in 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 period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,402 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $77.48. The stock had a trading volume of 10,756,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,876,383. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.31 and its 200-day moving average is $101.83. The company has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. Arista Networks has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.