Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 5.2% – What’s Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price was up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $116.99 and last traded at $113.49. Approximately 5,022,026 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 8,943,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued 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 $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $143.43 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.32 and a 200 day moving average of $98.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. 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 posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total transaction of $226,200.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,887.76. This represents a 89.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 3,328 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.35, for a total transaction of $330,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,252.59. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 343,992 shares of company stock valued at $37,634,420. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its position in Arista Networks by 3.6% in the third quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 63,244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 69.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,028 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter worth $2,318,000. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 20.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,224 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 10.0% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 72,800 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,600 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.