Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) dropped 2.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $92.82 and last traded at $93.07. Approximately 1,669,176 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 9,010,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Arista Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.38.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $113.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.28.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205 in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,856,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,581,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,982 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $3,016,207,000 after acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 22,959,214 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,778,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.