Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Reaches New 12-Month High at $365.34

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $365.34 and last traded at $363.77, with a volume of 825503 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $357.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Arista Networks from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.50.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $307.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.44. The company has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,427.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,427.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.96, for a total transaction of $125,199.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 186,330 shares of company stock worth $58,595,307 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,946,338,000 after buying an additional 1,596,040 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,136,348 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,387,211,000 after acquiring an additional 55,312 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 0.8% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,049,416 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $884,270,000 after acquiring an additional 25,196 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $881,848,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $586,051,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by 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.