Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 3.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) fell 3.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $112.02 and last traded at $112.65. 1,957,837 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 8,809,501 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.70.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $137.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $101.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.96.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total transaction of $31,305.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 353,476 shares of company stock valued at $36,841,998 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 50.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 66,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,206,000 after acquiring an additional 22,307 shares during the period. GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 5,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. &PARTNERS boosted its position in Arista Networks by 102.8% during the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 4,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. LVZ Inc. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 53.0% in the second quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.3% in the second quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.