Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 0.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price traded down 0.4% on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $100.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as low as $72.41 and last traded at $73.31. 2,127,752 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 9,129,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.59.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ANET. UBS Group raised Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $121.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total transaction of $9,248,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,155.36. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. The trade was a 5.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 411,031 shares of company stock valued at $39,364,943. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.99. The stock has a market cap of $92.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.