Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 8% on Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was down 8% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $101.62 and last traded at $102.18. Approximately 10,186,871 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 9,423,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.06.

Specifically, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Trading Down 7.9 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.54. The stock has a market cap of $128.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.13, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $242,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 395.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 18,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 14,843 shares during the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 387.6% in the fourth quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,120 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 292.7% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 602,541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,599,000 after acquiring an additional 449,088 shares during the period. Finally, 5T Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,046,000. 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.