Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $77.92 and last traded at $77.94. 1,975,824 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 10,646,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.60. The company has a market cap of $101.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.18, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 483,001 shares of company stock valued at $48,220,031 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3.1% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,177 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 12,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,883,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 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.