Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $100.30, but opened at $105.02. Arista Networks shares last traded at $102.73, with a volume of 3,615,985 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.33. The firm has a market cap of $130.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.09, for a total transaction of $8,407,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,647.84. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 343,992 shares of company stock worth $37,634,420 over the last 90 days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth 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. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 1,012.0% in the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.