Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.9% - Here's What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $99.82 and last traded at $100.87. 4,906,262 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 9,728,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Trading Down 4.9 %

The firm's 50-day moving average is $113.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.57. The stock has a market cap of $123.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. On average, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, 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 value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,405,171.04. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 259,944 shares of company stock worth $30,214,186. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 640 shares of the technology company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.