Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 8.2% Following Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price dropped 8.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $62.42 and last traded at $65.46. Approximately 6,789,404 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 8,917,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.27.

Specifically, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. This represents a 5.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $242,000. GHE LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 319.0% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after buying an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 327.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. grew its position in Arista Networks by 257.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,505,000 after buying an additional 55,430 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.