Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 5% After Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price traded down 5% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $115.41 and last traded at $117.07. 4,297,024 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 10,522,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.22.

Specifically, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $35,290,915.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,065,859 shares in the company, valued at $741,187,311.21. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 588,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total value of $70,060,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,105,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $727,495,703.95. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 527,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.59, for a total transaction of $60,950,838.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,186,850 shares in the company, valued at $715,137,991.50. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ANET shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.12. The company has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. General American Investors Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth $16,848,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 140,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 74,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after acquiring an additional 6,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Logan Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 162,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799 shares during the period. 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.