Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was down 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $126.72 and last traded at $128.31. Approximately 1,668,816 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,136,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.25 price objective (up previously from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.69. The company has a market capitalization of $162.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total transaction of $226,200.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,887.76. The trade was a 89.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 343,824 shares of company stock worth $37,614,089. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 4.3% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.