Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 8.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) fell 8.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $72.55 and last traded at $73.07. 4,867,463 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 8,858,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company 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 previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Down 11.2 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $96.46 and its 200-day moving average is $101.60. The company has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm 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, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total transaction of $896,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 155,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,450,923.68. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $6,788,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 483,001 shares of company stock worth $48,220,031 in the last 90 days. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitlin John LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.