Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 5.2% - Time to Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) shares dropped 5.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $67.45 and last traded at $67.52. Approximately 1,871,627 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 11,196,579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Arista Networks from $121.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $55.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.29.

Arista Networks Stock Up 5.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.87.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total value of $9,248,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,155.36. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total value of $620,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. The trade was a 5.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 410,863 shares of company stock valued at $39,344,612. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $15,097,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $838,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,297 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,565 shares of the technology company's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,957 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.