Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 1.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $133.58 and last traded at $131.14. Approximately 2,686,755 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 6,173,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.91. The firm has a market cap of $163.81 billion, a PE ratio of 62.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total value of $226,200.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,887.76. This represents a 89.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % 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. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is 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.