Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 3.3% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Shares of Arista Networks fell 3.3% after CEO Jayshree Ullal sold a total of 1,785,165 shares, causing a decline in insider ownership.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Arista Networks, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $155.00 and a majority of ratings labeled as "buy."
• The company recently reported record quarterly earnings with a net margin of 40.90% and revenues of $2.20 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) fell 3.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $136.94 and last traded at $136.63. 2,545,046 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,598,722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.25.

Specifically, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.67, for a total value of $26,953,376.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,623,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $785,465,112.07. The trade was a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 345,856 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.93, for a total transaction of $48,395,630.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,650,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,652,915.78. This trade represents a 5.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $776,191,640.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $171.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.74, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $107.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.44.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Arista Networks's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,993,100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,127,984,000 after buying an additional 1,136,167 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,016,207,000 after buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,576,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,606,694,000 after buying an additional 128,977 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Arista Networks by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 22,959,214 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,778,880,000 after buying an additional 1,889,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $933,626,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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