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

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $145.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 40.14% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $103.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.61, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.55. Arista Networks has a 12 month low of $60.08 and a 12 month high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 31.22%. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 259,944 shares of company stock worth $30,214,186. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.