Short Interest in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Increases By 17.3%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 14,940,850 shares, a growth of 17.3% from the February 12th total of 12,739,253 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,121,315 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Based on an average daily volume of 8,121,315 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $188.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.44, for a total value of $240,378.60. Following the sale, the director owned 12,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,665,300.56. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total value of $1,123,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This trade represents a 44.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,237 shares of company stock valued at $18,968,800. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2,118.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 56.7% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $136.33. 2,712,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,132,304. The firm has a market cap of $171.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.37, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.46. Arista Networks has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $164.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.32.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.99% and a return on equity of 30.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista’s offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista’s product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company’s hardware platforms.