Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $111.06, but opened at $104.50. Arista Networks shares last traded at $103.30, with a volume of 4,416,701 shares traded.

Specifically, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ANET. Evercore ISI upped 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.67 billion, a PE ratio of 49.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 6.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. boosted 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 valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 28.2% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.9% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 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.