Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was up 1.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $113.97 and last traded at $113.40. Approximately 861,429 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 2,737,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ANET. Citigroup boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.70.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $144.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.60.

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

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $7,893,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,374.36. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 337,316 shares of company stock valued at $35,286,096. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 918 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 4,572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $281,000. 82.47% of the stock is 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.