Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 9.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 9.2% intraday to about $122.59 from a prior close of $135.01 on Thursday, with mid-day volume of ~7.52 million shares (slightly below the session average).
• Analysts remain largely bullish with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.47, and several firms recently raised targets (Evercore $200, Goldman $188, Wells Fargo $185).
• Arista posted a quarter that beat expectations (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.75 estimate, revenue $2.49B, +28.9% YoY), but insiders have sold ~199,632 shares (~$26.9M) in the past 90 days.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.47.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

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

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $4,292,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,600.64. This represents a 71.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 9,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This trade represents a 44.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 199,632 shares of company stock valued at $26,936,324 in the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 32.9% in 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 in the last quarter. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Up Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $5,135,000. Stance Capital LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.

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