Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 5.3% – Should You Sell?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares dropped 5.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $91.82 and last traded at $93.12. Approximately 8,997,345 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 9,980,476 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.01. The company has a market capitalization of $117.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,171.04. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,056 shares of company stock worth $30,225,623. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 330.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after buying an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Arista Networks by 218.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,328,869,000 after buying 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.