Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 3% on Analyst Downgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded down 3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $171.00 to $159.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as low as $121.63 and last traded at $122.3280. 8,304,282 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 9,810,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.13.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ANET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $183.00 price target (up previously from $179.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.61, for a total transaction of $3,343,860.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 542,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,758,064. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.09, for a total value of $1,024,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,302,672.56. This represents a 23.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 218,464 shares of company stock worth $30,309,988 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,228,177,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,829.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,721,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $833,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,828 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 153.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,719,809 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $584,119,000 after buying an additional 4,678,372 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 193.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,065,054 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $721,342,000 after buying an additional 4,656,021 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,587,115 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,396,939,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 3.0%

The company has a market cap of $154.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.11 and its 200-day moving average is $127.48.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.73% and a return on equity of 30.28%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Arista Networks’s revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

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.