Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 2.8% – Time to Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares traded down 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $106.32 and last traded at $106.64. 12,211,763 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 9,228,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Stock Down 6.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $130.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.08 and a 200-day moving average of $101.54.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. Sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,171.04. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 337,320 shares of company stock worth $37,946,706. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.