Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price dropped 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $77.98 and last traded at $77.83. Approximately 2,575,607 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 8,561,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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 assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $97.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.00 and a 200 day moving average of $101.68.

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

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2,133.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 35.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.