Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price was up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $87.94 and last traded at $86.08. Approximately 2,814,118 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 10,795,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.25. The company has a market cap of $111.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total transaction of $896,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 155,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,450,923.68. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,171.04. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 431,441 shares of company stock worth $45,713,162 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Arista Networks by 6.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 4.9% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 640 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 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.