Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,860,000 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the February 28th total of 15,210,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,263,553.84. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 7.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,357 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth $1,439,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $5,984,000. Objective Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 244.0% during the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 3,516 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 535.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 520,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 438,899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ANET stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.35. The stock had a trading volume of 6,949,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,878,755. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. Arista Networks has a 12 month low of $60.08 and a 12 month high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.