Insider Selling: Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) CEO Sells 192,979 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks, sold 192,979 shares at an average price of $139.67, totaling approximately $26.95 million, resulting in a 3.32% decrease in her ownership.
• Arista Networks' stock has seen significant executive selling, with Ullal selling over 3 million shares in recent transactions, raising concerns among investors.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.73 per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and marking a 30.4% year-over-year revenue increase.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $785,465,112.07. This represents a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jayshree Ullal also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 7th, Jayshree Ullal sold 345,856 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.93, for a total value of $48,395,630.08.
• On Wednesday, August 6th, Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30.
• On Thursday, July 31st, Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total value of $109,837,662.20.
• On Wednesday, July 30th, Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $35,290,915.80.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, Jayshree Ullal sold 588,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total value of $70,060,200.00.
• On Monday, July 28th, Jayshree Ullal sold 527,302 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.59, for a total value of $60,950,838.18.
• On Friday, July 25th, Jayshree Ullal sold 60,698 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.02, for a total value of $6,981,483.96.
• On Monday, June 30th, Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92.
• On Monday, June 30th, Jayshree Ullal sold 93,468 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $9,573,927.24.
• On Friday, June 27th, Jayshree Ullal sold 1,793 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.99, for a total value of $182,868.07.

Arista Networks Trading Up 2.6%

ANET traded up $3.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.17. 7,457,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,818,186. The firm's fifty day moving average is $106.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.12. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $141.74. The company has a market cap of $177.42 billion, a PE ratio of 55.52, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 stock 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 buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 14.4% during the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 19.8% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,519,000 after acquiring an additional 101,162 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $15,227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. KGI Securities cut Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six 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, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

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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