Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 2.5% - Here's What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $102.68 and last traded at $103.63. 2,442,482 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 9,113,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.07.

Arista Networks Trading Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $136.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.02, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $95.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.84.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 30.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.23, for a total transaction of $2,397,980.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 592,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,637,052. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,123,370 shares of company stock worth $113,157,408. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth $210,000. Baugh & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,906,000. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC now owns 8,271 shares of the technology company's stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 43.9% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 18,289 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,871,000 after buying an additional 5,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at about $212,000. 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.