Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 9.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded down 9.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $122.51 and last traded at $122.5860. 7,519,122 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 8,077,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen started coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $184.00 target price (up from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.47.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.83 and a 200-day moving average of $137.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.46.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.07. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.37% and a net margin of 38.99%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.44, for a total value of $240,378.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,665,300.56. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total transaction of $1,123,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,967.12. This trade represents a 44.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 199,632 shares of company stock valued at $26,936,324. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Old North State Trust LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 14,281 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,871,000 after buying an additional 3,538 shares during the period. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Up Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,135,000. Stance Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista’s offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista’s product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company’s hardware platforms.