Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $121.50, but opened at $126.18. Arista Networks shares last traded at $129.09, with a volume of 1,325,350 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.25 price target (up from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Trading Up 7.9 %

The company has a market cap of $165.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.46.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.06, for a total transaction of $7,107,506.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,289.82. This represents a 50.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 343,824 shares of company stock valued at $37,614,089. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 1,012.0% during the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $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.