Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $114.29 and last traded at $113.63. Approximately 530,939 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 8,767,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.70.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $144.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.88.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.63, for a total value of $765,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 187,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,957,783.92. The trade was a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.09, for a total value of $242,342.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 353,476 shares of company stock worth $36,841,998 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,556 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,328,000 after purchasing an additional 29,006 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Arista Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,320 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,617,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at about $13,283,000. American Trust raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 71.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 4,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.