Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 8% on Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares traded down 8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $101.62 and last traded at $102.18. 10,186,871 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 9,423,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.06.

Specifically, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at $870,752.64. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $114.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.79 billion, a PE ratio of 49.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 6.0% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,087 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,548 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 16.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 540 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 5.0% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 653 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $211,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.