Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares were up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $110.45 and last traded at $107.70. Approximately 4,255,392 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 8,672,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $145.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.61.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.09, for a total value of $8,407,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,647.84. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 331,160 shares of company stock valued at $36,380,165. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Caitlin John LLC grew its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1,012.0% during the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.