Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 0.9% - What's Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $113.45 and last traded at $114.28. Approximately 1,252,604 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,547,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.70.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $145.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.78 and a 200 day moving average of $95.55.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total value of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at $18,263,553.84. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 288 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total value of $31,305.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 265,316 shares of company stock worth $28,284,376. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 152.6% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,001 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,557,000 after buying an additional 7,854 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 37.2% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 642 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.8% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 183.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in 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.