Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Short Interest Update

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the August 31st total of 2,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $364.81.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded down $2.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $381.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,052,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,281,943. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $168.25 and a 52 week high of $395.82. The stock has a market cap of $119.62 billion, a PE ratio of 53.16, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $347.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.12.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.01% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.74, for a total transaction of $132,707.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,038.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 372 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.74, for a total transaction of $132,707.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,038.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,157 shares of company stock worth $19,291,193. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 500.0% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by 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.