Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 5.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded down 5.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $81.12 and last traded at $82.20. 3,576,039 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 8,545,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $98.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.68.

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

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,717 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.9% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter valued at about $329,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,158 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,769 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 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.