Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $129.17, but opened at $109.62. Arista Networks shares last traded at $108.51, with a volume of 7,288,580 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $133.54 billion, a PE ratio of 50.96, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.26.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total value of $241,693.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,266.72. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 343,992 shares of company stock valued at $37,634,420 over the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 63,244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,028 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,465,000 after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter worth $2,318,000. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 20.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,224 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 10.0% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 72,800 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 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.