Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,560,000 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 3,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ANET. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Arista Networks from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Arista Networks from $206.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $177.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $167,793.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.86, for a total transaction of $317,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 76,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,223,641.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $167,793.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,212 shares of company stock valued at $26,086,688 in the last three months. 18.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Republic Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 2,389.3% during the 4th quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,400,805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,504,838,000 after acquiring an additional 11,902,638 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Arista Networks by 68.8% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,819,327 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,591,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,002,359 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 162.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,549,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $673,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,432,952 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Arista Networks by 391.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,848,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $623,657,000 after buying an additional 3,065,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,236,411 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $999,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,979 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.13% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

ANET traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $184.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,035,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,863,942. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.17. Arista Networks has a 1-year low of $98.20 and a 1-year high of $198.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.97.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The technology company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.19% and a net margin of 32.48%. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arista Networks will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops, markets, and sells cloud networking solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's cloud networking solutions consist of extensible operating systems, a set of network applications, as well as gigabit Ethernet switching and routing platforms.