Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were down 1.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $78.00 and last traded at $80.20. Approximately 3,258,963 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 8,562,647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $98.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.66.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,537,266.72. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 304.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,620,270,000 after buying an additional 72,311,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after acquiring an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.