Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $97.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.68.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.