Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 0.3% on Insider Selling

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were down 0.3% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $87.04 and last traded at $90.08. Approximately 2,797,611 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 9,143,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.38.

Specifically, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.58, for a total value of $708,640.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 131,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,673,426.72. This represents a 5.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ANET. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Arista Networks from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.57.

Arista Networks Stock Down 4.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $108.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 72,311,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,665,829,000 after buying an additional 18,293,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 218.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 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.