Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Short Interest Update

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 15,210,000 shares, an increase of 38.5% from the February 13th total of 10,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 535.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 520,832 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,568,000 after purchasing an additional 438,899 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 7,402 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 415.3% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,775 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after buying an additional 9,490 shares during the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,376,000. Finally, Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE ANET traded up $1.55 on Monday, hitting $85.06. 6,636,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,651,526. Arista Networks has a 52-week low of $60.08 and a 52-week high of $133.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.94.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.