Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 2.1% After Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price was down 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $91.75 and last traded at $94.38. Approximately 3,385,007 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 10,452,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.38.

Specifically, insider John F. Mccool sold 17,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total transaction of $1,623,709.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,623,709.62. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.3 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.02. The company has a market cap of $116.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. Research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 304.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,620,270,000 after buying an additional 72,311,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after acquiring an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after acquiring an additional 14,454,822 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.