Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price dropped 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $113.45 and last traded at $114.28. Approximately 1,252,604 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,547,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ANET. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.70.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.45 and a 200-day moving average of $95.40. The company has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.45, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.09, for a total transaction of $8,407,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,647.84. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 265,316 shares of company stock worth $28,284,376 over the last 90 days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 152.6% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,001 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,557,000 after buying an additional 7,854 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 37.2% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 642 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 5.8% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the second quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 183.4% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is 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.