Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.83.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $6,788,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,013.60. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,357 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,439,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,984,000. Objective Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 244.0% in the fourth quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 3,516 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 535.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 520,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 438,899 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.