Arista Networks’ (ANET) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $375.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ANET. KeyCorp raised their price target on Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $353.38.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $319.01 on Wednesday. Arista Networks has a fifty-two week low of $168.25 and a fifty-two week high of $376.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $332.16 and a 200 day moving average of $297.66. The firm has a market cap of $99.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.01% and a return on equity of 31.81%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Arista Networks will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,518.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 205,116 shares of company stock worth $67,657,035 in the last 90 days. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Arista Networks by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,535,000 after purchasing an additional 6,133 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,405,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 51,301 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,082,000 after acquiring an additional 3,763 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $3,238,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $662,000. 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.