Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shot up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $87.94 and last traded at $86.08. 2,814,118 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 10,795,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $111.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.25.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,171.04. The trade was a 86.04 % 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, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 431,441 shares of company stock valued at $45,713,162. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 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.