Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 4.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price rose 4.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $83.94 and last traded at $83.71. Approximately 2,421,876 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 10,831,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $6,788,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,013.60. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,621 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.