Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.7% - Here's Why

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) were down 2.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $94.47 and last traded at $94.21. Approximately 1,328,755 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 9,038,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.38.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $512,305.20. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,748.32. This represents a 86.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205 in the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its position in Arista Networks by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 7,329 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 319.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,136,000 after buying an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,077,000 after buying an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $630,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by 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.