Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $316.50, but opened at $305.36. Arista Networks shares last traded at $297.75, with a volume of 1,278,399 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 87,418 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.81, for a total transaction of $24,373,012.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,639.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $265,739.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 87,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.81, for a total transaction of $24,373,012.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,929,639.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 414,109 shares of company stock valued at $121,583,803 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $306.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.22.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $287.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.13.

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 185.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 17,032 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,939,000 after buying an additional 11,073 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 490.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,358,000 after acquiring an additional 61,186 shares in the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 9.5% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $521,767,000. 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.