Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 1.7% After Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares dropped 1.7% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $115.67 and last traded at $118.23. Approximately 1,832,974 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 8,593,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.23.

Specifically, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total transaction of $9,248,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,500,155.36. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total value of $896,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 155,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,450,923.68. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ANET shares. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.83 and a 200-day moving average of $100.59. The company has a market cap of $138.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% during 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. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,397,833,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,237,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,313,229,000 after buying an additional 411,109 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.