Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 0.7% – What’s Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price rose 0.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $83.00 and last traded at $79.66. Approximately 3,860,652 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 8,726,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ANET. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $101.65 billion, a PE ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.03.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 value of $892,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total value of $6,788,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,013.60. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Caitlin John LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.