Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $83.54 and last traded at $83.46. 2,132,071 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 8,556,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $102.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at $18,263,553.84. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 35.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.