Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.2% – What’s Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price dropped 1.2% on Thursday . The company 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 price target (up previously from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.16. The stock has a market cap of $162.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,266.72. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total value of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 343,992 shares of company stock valued at $37,634,420. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1,012.0% in the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during 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.