Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $375.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 20.22% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.35.

Arista Networks Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of ANET opened at $311.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.56. Arista Networks has a 12-month low of $150.72 and a 12-month high of $376.50. The firm has a market cap of $97.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total transaction of $388,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,575,312.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total value of $388,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,575,312.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,616 shares of company stock worth $68,045,190 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth $881,848,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $586,051,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $521,767,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 5.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,596,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 25,188.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 613,739 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,445,420,000 after purchasing an additional 611,312 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.