Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 7.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were down 7.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $76.09 and last traded at $77.10. Approximately 5,139,480 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,694,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $108.92 and its 200-day moving average is $102.18. The stock has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

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. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The sale 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 Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total transaction of $712,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 147,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,157,209.52. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 411,001 shares of company stock worth $42,324,111. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $242,000. GHE LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $630,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted 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 buying an additional 14,843 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.