Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 4% - What's Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) traded down 4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $81.45 and last traded at $82.58. 5,602,822 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 10,675,872 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.7 %

The company's fifty day moving average price is $110.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value 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. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 491,289 shares of company stock worth $51,018,617 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 valued at $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew 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 period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after acquiring an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% during 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. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

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.