Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 2.2% – What’s Next?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $116.04 and last traded at $114.83. 2,608,847 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 8,805,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.88.

Arista Networks Stock Up 3.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $146.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.28.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 3,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $323,264.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,836,889.08. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 353,476 shares of company stock valued at $36,841,998 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 500.0% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.