StockNews.com Downgrades Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) to Hold

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ANET. Barclays cut their price objective on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 target price (up from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.88.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE ANET opened at $112.39 on Thursday. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $56.65 and a 52 week high of $112.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.23, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.19, for a total value of $132,707.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $915,038.10. This represents a 12.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.63, for a total transaction of $765,040.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 187,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,957,783.92. This represents a 4.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 354,964 shares of company stock worth $36,974,705. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3.6% in the third quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 63,244 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,274,000 after buying an additional 2,219 shares during the period. Deepwater Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,084,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in Arista Networks by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,028 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,318,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,224 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.