Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares were down 1.5% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $106.99 and last traded at $109.89. Approximately 2,900,370 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 9,135,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.61.

Specifically, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 582,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,757,056. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total value of $3,335,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ANET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.40.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $138.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.78.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

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

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $33,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.