Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.5%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price fell 2.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $337.80 and last traded at $337.82. 456,587 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,420,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.12.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.47. The stock has a market cap of $100.03 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $7,414,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock valued at $68,928,479. 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. FCG Investment Co boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 2.3% in the second quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 1,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 955 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 21.5% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Arista Networks by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.