Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 1.5% After Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) shares were down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $106.99 and last traded at $109.89. Approximately 2,900,370 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 9,135,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.61.

Specifically, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 582,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,757,056. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. The trade was a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen 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 $111.40.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.9%

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.98. The stock has a market cap of $143.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in 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 an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 68.0% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 250,002 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,578,000 after acquiring an additional 101,190 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 990,892 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $101,378,000 after purchasing an additional 44,117 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,603 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,280,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 737 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 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.